Dr Living Dead! Are a thrash metal crossover act from Sweden named after their mascot character Dr Living Dead. Much in the vain of Iron Maiden’s Eddie or Megadeth’s Vic they bands imagery is all based around the character Dr Living Dead. Although hes more similar to Sargent D. Of the S.O.D., the band is not only entirely around Dr Living Dead but each of the four band members also play under masks with “Dr” pseudonyms.
Having toured in support of Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies as well as doing their own headlining tour of South America the band have built up a cult following around the world as one of the more unique new thrash bands to emerge in the the last 5 or so years. The band have now released their 3rd studio album Crush the Sublime Gods and they have really upped the thrash.
The band very clearly grew up on a steady diet of Suicidal Tendencies, S.O.D., and D.R.I. The band are that awesome blend of straight forward thrash metal with that hardcore punk aggression that make for classic crossover. Plus the addition of new front man “DrxMANIA” replacing former vocalist “DrxAPE” it seems to give the band a more Suicidal Tendencies type sound with the vocals now really resembling Suicidal’s Mike Muir with more clean melodic singing than on previous albums. Also worth noting that with the bands masks and outfits they also resemble a kind of undead version of Suicidal Tendencies as well.
The thrash riffs come hard fast from these guys as well. This album during the writing process was a full collaboration between all of the band members leading to new vocalist Mania being able to gel perfectly with the other members. The band are clearly very proud of their last 2 years worth of shared experiences as a band which have lead them to be able to come together so unified in the studio with their best album to date
Lyrically the band are also somewhat tongue-in-cheek but their approach to the music is still very serious. Once again thematically the band are not just taking on topics of the undead but also horror films like “Scanners”. Musically the band have also been able to diversify slightly as well with being able to have super fast thrashy tracks like “Civilized to Death” as well as having more melodic groove laden tracks like “No Way Out”.
If your a fan of classic cross over thrash like Suicidal Tendencies, D.R.I., S.O.D., or Nuclear Assault you are going to eat this up. Also if your a fan of newer thrash acts like Toxic Holocaust or Municipal Waste then you will most definitely love this too and hopeful it will open your eyes to other older thrash acts out there you must listen to.
Crush the Sublime Gods is available March 3rd through Century Media
http://www.deathfuckingthrash.se/
http://www.facebook.com/drlivingdeadofficial
http://drlivingdead.bandcamp.com/
www.twitter.com/TEAMxDEADx
