15 Times Dead
It’s rare that we hear an awful lot coming out of Scotland, but 15 Times Dead could be about to change all of that. Offering blasting beats, screaming guitars and scorching vocals all bound together with harmony yet heaviness, 15 Times Dead could well be on the path to the big leagues. I checked out 3 of their tracks to see what I thought about them.
Bullethead opens with a pumping guitar riff backed by a solid drum beat, straight away you can envisage the live power of this band. As soon as the vocals kick in the track finds its depth and pushes onwards, drawing influence from old skool metal vocal stylings opting to growl rather than roar or scream, the track oozes heaviness whilst still retaining a sense of funky rawness, something which a lot of bands try to achieve but often don’t achieve. Throughout the track, the guitars act as the main basis whilst different layers of vocals are offered up to the listener, occasionally adding in an intricate guitar lick just to make sure you’re still paying attention – purely for the simplicity of this track it’s a triumph and one which I can see myself listening to a lot more in the future.
Driven By Hate follows on perfectly, opening with effect laden guitars layered over one another to create a massively heavy sound. Breaking down before the track has even fully begun immediately ushers in a sense of darkness and foreboding, continuing to underpin this with dark vocals and continued crunchy guitars. This track is slower than the previous one but still has that almost funky edge which makes you tap your feet along with it as soon as it begins to kick in. This track also answered one of my questions – where’s the bass! All too often it gets lost in the mix, something which I always find disappointing as I always think it adds more to the track. These guys break down purely to the bass line part way through this track before kicking back in with rolling double bass drums and those guitars again, before finishing on a slow and heavy note right at the end.
Dying continues the dark and heavy theme created across the tracks so far, opening heavy and bringing in a lead line over the rhythm guitar to add further depth to the already pumping track. All of a sudden though this track catches you off guard as it suddenly breaks down to soft guitars, drums, bass and vocals – taking on an almost hypnotic quality as emotions seep out of the music coming through your speakers. Kicking back in to heavy mode for the chorus though, this track retains all of the qualities I’ve come to expect over the previous tracks, only this time with more depth and more contrasts because of the softer broken down sections.
Whenever I write a review I try to pigeon hole a band into a genre, which whilst it sounds unfair often helps to connect people to that band. 15 Times Dead though, well, I can’t do it as I’m not sure where they fit. At times this band sound like Metallica, at other times there were hints of the Cranberries in there – so you can see what a range you can expect! These contrasting sounds all work together and create this amazingly dark and heavy sound whilst continuing to retain that harmony which so often gets lost.
These three tracks are just a taster of what’s to come, so now I need to hear what else they’ve done!
To find out more about 15 Times Dead or to hear their tracks, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Bullethead opens with a pumping guitar riff backed by a solid drum beat, straight away you can envisage the live power of this band. As soon as the vocals kick in the track finds its depth and pushes onwards, drawing influence from old skool metal vocal stylings opting to growl rather than roar or scream, the track oozes heaviness whilst still retaining a sense of funky rawness, something which a lot of bands try to achieve but often don’t achieve. Throughout the track, the guitars act as the main basis whilst different layers of vocals are offered up to the listener, occasionally adding in an intricate guitar lick just to make sure you’re still paying attention – purely for the simplicity of this track it’s a triumph and one which I can see myself listening to a lot more in the future.
Driven By Hate follows on perfectly, opening with effect laden guitars layered over one another to create a massively heavy sound. Breaking down before the track has even fully begun immediately ushers in a sense of darkness and foreboding, continuing to underpin this with dark vocals and continued crunchy guitars. This track is slower than the previous one but still has that almost funky edge which makes you tap your feet along with it as soon as it begins to kick in. This track also answered one of my questions – where’s the bass! All too often it gets lost in the mix, something which I always find disappointing as I always think it adds more to the track. These guys break down purely to the bass line part way through this track before kicking back in with rolling double bass drums and those guitars again, before finishing on a slow and heavy note right at the end.
Dying continues the dark and heavy theme created across the tracks so far, opening heavy and bringing in a lead line over the rhythm guitar to add further depth to the already pumping track. All of a sudden though this track catches you off guard as it suddenly breaks down to soft guitars, drums, bass and vocals – taking on an almost hypnotic quality as emotions seep out of the music coming through your speakers. Kicking back in to heavy mode for the chorus though, this track retains all of the qualities I’ve come to expect over the previous tracks, only this time with more depth and more contrasts because of the softer broken down sections.
Whenever I write a review I try to pigeon hole a band into a genre, which whilst it sounds unfair often helps to connect people to that band. 15 Times Dead though, well, I can’t do it as I’m not sure where they fit. At times this band sound like Metallica, at other times there were hints of the Cranberries in there – so you can see what a range you can expect! These contrasting sounds all work together and create this amazingly dark and heavy sound whilst continuing to retain that harmony which so often gets lost.
These three tracks are just a taster of what’s to come, so now I need to hear what else they’ve done!
To find out more about 15 Times Dead or to hear their tracks, check out their Facebook page HERE.
