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DEAD HEAD
Shadow Soul EP

Hammerheart (2024)
Rating: 8/10

If you know your thrash / death metal then you’ll be aware of Netherlands act Dead Head. Back when many of you were in nappies, or yet to set foot in the world, Dead Head released their 1989 demo which, the following year was followed by a trio if further demos. In 1991 Dead Head issued their debut full-length outing in the form of The Feast Begins At Dawn, an impressive platter I eagerly plucked from the import racks.

Even when grunge decimated the 90s, Dead Head marched on with albums released in 1993 (Dream Deceiver) and 1999 (Kill Division), but after that the band became more sporadic. It wouldn’t be until 2005 that the next record, Haatland, would follow, and then another four years would pass before the next, Depression Tank. Dead Head then seemed to vanish off the face of the earth before returning with another full-length, Swine Plague, in 2017. Another five years would drift by before the release of 2022 opus Slave Driver, and now we come to the present with the Shadow Soul EP, featuring a line-up that still consists of three original members.

This is a devastating thrash release from the veterans, one which spits in your face and crushes your bones from the off with the furious ‘Litany Of The Weak’. This is total thrash Armageddon as every instrument rains down like military gunfire. Dead Head shows the generic ghouls of today how to unleash hell on earth because this is seriously savage in its approach. The annihilation continues with ‘Serpents Of Fame’, and although the spinal axe work is extremely melodic in general the track has that volatile Slayer mayhem within its contours alongside, say, Ripping Corpse.

‘Caverns Of Fate’ begins with a chug of menace, the band showing their ability to crush at mid-pace too as bassist Ralph de Boer’s sneers weave between the juggernaut drums of Hans Spijker. However, the real stars here are axemen Robbie Woning and Ronnie van der Wey, both of whom have that knack for not just speed but groove and variation, particularly on ‘The Run’ and my favourite tune ‘Opulent Disruption’.

This is such a fresh sounding record and hasn’t succumbed to modern gloss production and so its hostile nature benefits greatly by the way it has been expertly created and mixed. I hope Shadow Soul doesn’t get lost amid the continuous flurry of thrash n’ death releases because 35 years on Dead Head remains quite the force.

Neil Arnold

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