Review of Deadsoul Tribe - A Murder of Crows

A small background: Dead Soul Tribe is a progressive rock/metal band formed by Devon Graves, whom under the artist-name Buddy Lackey, is also the vocalist of the prog-metal band Psychotic Waltz, which happens to be one of the cooler prog-names I've heard in awhile. This is the second full-length of the band, following their eponymous debut. What we have here is some very well done King Crimson/Tool influenced progressive metallish rock, though oddly enough the main pull here doesn't seem to be the guitars but rather the vocals and the drums. The drums, played by Adel Moustafa, are extremely well timed. The guy pretty obviously has a Jazz-trained background, and it suits the music perfectly. The guitar sound is pretty metal, but the riffs are definitely of a prog-rock, not metal, background. The vocals of Devon Graves remind me oddly of Maynard James Keenan of Tool, which isn't too surprising seeing as how Tool is about the closest thing mainstream rock gets to Progressive rock, and everyone knows Keenan has the pipes, and so does Graves, in my personal opinion. Graves is an extremely good vocalist, fitting the pleasing sounds this band offers perfectly. Oddly enough, on the song "Angels in Vertigo" I can't help but shake a small influence of Korn, not that it's a mallcore track, but . . . well, if you heard it, you would probably understand my view on the song; it’s actually catchy as hell. Maybe it’s just that Graves sounds a tad too close to Jonathan Davis. Although I have no clue if this album has any direct tie-ins with the book/film of the same name, it certainly is an interesting album of catchy progressive rock. Hell, my mother asked me to burn her a copy of it as she liked it so much (as well as the new Gordian Knot, Porcupine Tree, and Vanden Plas, for that matter). No, this is not the most original or avant-garde progressive rock band in the world, but what they do is create catchy, soothing, completely listenable music. I would definitely like to see these fellas live, as I can imagine they put on one hell of a live show. The instrumentation on this album is completely above-the-bar, and the vocals are some of the best I've heard in prog-rock. The metal influence shows up in all the right spots, the production is all but flawless, and what I have seen of the lyrics are well written and thought filled. Overall, my opinion is that this is one of the better prog releases of the year. It has been seeing a lot of listening. It REALLY makes a great listen while driving in the car. If you do that, turn up your bass - they have some really good rhythm floating about through the whole album. The addition of classical piano and folk and classical wind instruments is about as pleasant as it can get. The whole album flows with a subtle intensity that makes it a very likable listen. Recommended to fans of prog from the realms of just about every era, from Floyd, Rush, and King Crimson, to Dream Theater, Andromeda, and Tool . . . and anyone who really thought [Opeth’s] Damnation was anything special.

Release Details

Deadsoul Tribe

A Murder of Crows

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