Deceased - Behind the Mourner's Veil (2001)

 

Cost: $2.00

This is one of the other Deceased CDs I mentioned finding in my post about The Blueprints for Madness. One of the reasons it took me so long to get around to this one was that I already had it, so it was less of a priority. Speaking of priorities, when I originally got this, I was super focused on the cover songs and hardly paid attention to the original tracks.

1. It's Alive!

A very thrashy song that feels more intense than the thrashier material from Fearless... and Supernatural..., in no small part thanks to the very Mille influenced vocals.

 

2. The Mausoleum
A more melodic track in line with the Supernatural Addiction material. This made me realize one of the reasons I'm generally not into post-'92 Deceased as much is the lack of creepy riffs despite the horror themes of the material. While they occasionally use slower tempos, it seems like they've cut back on them a lot.

 

3. Zombie Attack (Tankard)

Musically, solid cover. King's vocals here are a little cleaner in an attempt to emulate Gerre, but I wish he had just used his normal vocal style. 

 

4. Reaganomics (D.R.I.)

It's funny to me how they covered stuff like this and Impetigo so well, yet grindier influences never really manifested in their own sound. Up there with the best covers on the first Rotten to the Core CD.

 

5. New Age of Total Warfare (Warfare)

Good. 

 

6. Deathrider (Anthrax)

Probably the best Fistful of Metal cover song ever (offhand I can't think of any "Metal Thrashing Mad" covers that have really grabbed me). This feels so much more energetic and over the top than the other covers here. My only complaint here is that Neil Turbin's vocals in the pre-solo part on the original (the "here it comes/you better hide.." part) are very distinctive, yet here they're pretty flat. Still awesome though.

 

7. Victims of the Masterplan (I-V) 

For listening purposes, forget the 5-part thing. That's based on the lyrics. It's really two parts. Although I still prefer older Deceased, the first ~6 minute part is the kind of thing that should have defined quality death/thrash in 2001, not overly modern Swedish stuff like The Haunted or Hatesphere. The second half is instrumental and way more traditional metal influences, with lots of dueling solos. While it's great, unfortunately the solo trade-offs remind me of the magnum opus of a certain veteran Japanese band. While they're ultimately not that similar sound-wise, it's also a reminder that they completely obliterate this from the top of their hill...