Dead Teach The Living are a 5 piece Auckland based band that's been injecting fans with their fix of pure heavy metal for the last 3 and a half years and are quickly rising in the New Zealand metal scene with their reputation of hectic, insane music both live and in studio.
The Official music video for their first single, Cystic Eyebrosis was released late last year and left me eager to listen to the rest of their self-produced debut album The Feeding Begins which definitely delivers 13 tracks of metal with high energy, solid production and a tasteful blend of progressive metal, thrash metal, extreme metal, hardcore punk with a sense of groove.
Not only was the album awesome and had a tonne of detail but the enjoyment of listening to it was so damn spontaneous it was almost infectious with their clear flow of tracks beginning with a heavy, aggressive and epic start to the album with the first track Blood to Dust which welcomes the listener with pummeling, monstrous well produced guitar and bass riffs that are tightly locked in with the dynamically progressive drums. Complementing the instrumentation quite well was the vocals which definitely made the grass greener for the album with the vocalist alternating from some pretty loud, energetic and raw yells to smoky, clean vocals which I thought were pretty good.
Blood to Dust starts off with an ominous drone of dissonant minor chords played on the guitar followed by the drums, without time to waste the song quickly turns into an aggressive, melodic punch to that face that pumped me up so much that I felt like throwing chairs across the room and this feeling was fairly constant throughout the whole album. This song brings forth some pretty technical drum beats and expressive guitar riffs then finishes with a perfected, groovy, emphasized version of the intro which I think completes the song nicely.
The last three tracks No Room in Hell, Night of the Living Dead and Force Fed Fear are definitely my favorite combination of songs. Dead Teach The Living somehow fluctuates between a number of different tastes and moods but do it in a way that generously diversifies their sound throughout the whole album which kinda reminds me of early Between the Buried and Me.
The album cover illustrates their music to a certain extent. Personally I didn't feel drawn to it considering it's basically a visual representation of the albums output having the great mixture of music in mind when I hear the album but at the same time: it kinda sets the scene for the music. Lucky I never judge a book by its cover because the album as a whole was surely a chaotic 56 Minutes of my life I would not take back. it's diverse, chaotic chemistry surely grabbed my attention.
In my experience, bands like this usually loose their edge and rawness in the studio compared to a live situation because they don't necessarily have the live atmosphere and the hectic moshpit to add to the experience, I felt a little that way with this album, but not to the point where I'm disappointed. I think that this is a nice, well completed album and would recommend this to anyone who appreciates great musical talent and of course… some RAW Heavy Metal.
-Rodrigo
Dead Teach the Living is a four piece metal band from Auckland, New Zealand, formed in mid-2010. Often described as a mix of extreme metal and punk, their eclectic range of influences becomes evident through the diversity and experimentation within songs.
After a few years of solid songwriting and gigging around the country they released their debut album 'The Feeding Begins' in February 2014. Now they have returned with their second self-produced release 'The Crowning' EP. Drawing influence from bands such as The Dillinger Escape Plan, Cynic, and Misfits, they have crafted an intricate yet energetic sound packed with substance.
Expect twisted melodies, crazy playing and a lot of intensity - on record and live!