Artist: Debauchery
Title: Germany's Next Death Metal
Type: Album
Label: Nuclear Blast

I'm not one generally prone to expressing moral outrage in heavy metal music reviews, but today I'm going to make an exception. Debauchery are a German death metal band with a decent back catalogue, and a strong line in slightly tongue in cheek death metal aesthetics, complete with violently cartoonish mysogny, fake blood and gory album covers. Their main man, Thomas Gurath, was also a school teacher in his native Germany. It seems that at some point, the school found out that he was also in a theatrical heavy metal outfit, and decided to issue him with an ultimatum: give up on his band (on the grounds that it represents a sort of madness) or be fired. Backed into a corner, Gurath opted to resign rather than submit to their craven demand. How long before the PC brigade decide that fans of extreme metal need to be psychologically evaluated ? Should we all submit to the tyranny of upbeat, ultimately vacuous lovelorn pop songs ?

For those not in the know, Debauchery are a kind of Marmite experience. No, I don't mean that they are brown and sticky with a salty aftertaste, I mean that they produce a love / hate experience on a par with the knuckles of most pub-psychopaths. What do they offer the listener ? In the main, the easiest way to describe them is as a kind of Six Feet Under without the bearded crusty. The same groovy beats infest the music, the same sickening hooks and rock base. When the likes of “Warmachines at War” come swaggering out of the speakers, it's hard not to be carried away with the gonzoid appeal of the music. So sure, these are riffs that always sound just a touch or two removed from umpteen rock and metal tracks you've hard, but they are delivered with such a gusto and joi-de-vivre (has there ever been a less appropriate phrase for death metal ?) that you can't help but be carried away with the spirit of the damned thing. The guitars are nicely deep and rich, while the bass and drum work together incredibly well in locking that rhythm section down tight. The vocals are generally cut from the Barnes cloth of gargling glass, while the real star of the piece is often the flashy, rock inspired guitar soloing.

The nay sayers ? Well, I imagine they will say that this is not death metal enough; that it is stupid (and it's hard to argue that the likes of “School Shooter” don't have an element of Call-of-Duty-esque deliberate controversy seeking about them) and blunt. To them I say that not all death metal has to be an elaborate work of progressive or mathematically inspired genius. Yes, the lyrics are the work of a fevered mind and not works of poetic genius, but not everyone wants to listen to some tech-death wankery all day every day. It isn't particularly brutal, but in the vein of Amon Amarth, this is mid-paced, good depraved fun. I suppose in general terms, for those of a certain age, consider this in the frame work of porn mags. Yes, many of the triple A titles have better productions; air-brushed tits and gleaming white teeth. Debauchery are like the Readers Wives editions; a bit rough around the edges, a sleazier, less professional publication maybe, but a more gratifying experience. It's big, stupid and frequently anthemic. You know what ? I really, really like it.

http://www.myspace.com/debaucheryband