Deadlock, now there is a name from the past and one I had completely forgotten despite having seen them play numerous times. If you were into low key underground metal and punk gigs in both the 80s and the 90s you would probably have caught them too as they played supporting anyone and everyone. In fact they were on the road so often they only got the chance to lay down one five track demo ‘The Way It Is’ which I may well have knocking around somewhere. The reason I am mentioning them is that an EP and album have turned up by a band called Anger Without Reason who have in their ranks no less that three ex members of Deadlock and have way surpassed their former bands recorded output with 16 tracks on the album (3 are repeated on EP).
You only have to look at sleeve art-work, song titles, lyrics and take heed of the warning that material contained may offend and hopefully make you think, to guess which direction they are swinging in, the punk side. Opener ‘Burn Clean’ has swaggering bass lines reminiscent of the Subhumans and clean angry vocals that remind a little of many bands who flirted with the Anarcho side of things, some of whom I shall mention later. The three chord punk laden bombast romps along, and you know that the whole album is going to inject a lot of aggro as it unfolds. Swaggering and bristling with melody there is plenty of time to get into a groove and let a solo flow on numbers like ‘Citadel Of power’ and by now a few tracks in I am in a very comfortable and familiar place that reminds of the past but is also quite relevant in these very troubled times. ‘Stolen From The Inside’ is the song that has quickly established itself as a firm favourite as it gives the vocals a chance to rant before bass and drums pound in with gnarly and crusty finesse. The poetic and political stance reminds strongly of both Amebix and Icons Of Filth so it is bound to hit the mark. Although this is not far off an hour in length the band keep the adrenalin going and do not run out of ideas so this does not get stale or boring over the 16 songs. The one real surprise here is that I have not noticed the name of the band on any punk support bands lately as they are perfect, especially considering how much Deadlock were on the road (they do seem to have plenty of dates around home town of Oldham). The pace is picked up occasionally and ‘Peace In Hell’ ups it, discharging a bit of a thrash laden beat and flailing guitar solos.
One of my pet hates is bands using the punk tag and not resembling the spirit and even the musical ideology in the slightest (don’t even get me started on pop punk), Anger Without Reason are the real deal, intelligent and relevant punk and for that they get my full respect. I am hoping to catch this lot live at some point and will certainly be suggesting them as support on anything relevant crossing my path, good stuff.
http://www.myspace.com/angerwithoutreason1
