A couple of Belgian survivors who decided that 2020 is the perfect time to play . . . 80s goth punk metal. Y'know. Sisters of Mercy kind of stuff. With death metal overtones.

Deathmaze Eau Rouge (Throatruiner)

Seeing as I just received part 3 of the My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult career retrospective (no joke), Maybe Gregory Mertz and Julien Diels are on to something. In any case, their nods to doom, black metal and old school death metal are nicely greased by the goth disco grooves. The beat is insistent, the vocals harsh or ethereal depending on the need (not quite like Fear Factory, but not quite unlike either) and the tight, monochromatic guitars tying up the package nicely.

Nobody makes music like this today. Well, I haven't heard it, anyway. And that's too bad. Because my office sits about five blocks from the White House, and I often hum along the appropriate bits of "Vision Thing" ("another motherfucker in a motorcade", etc.). It still works. And Deathmaze works the hell out of it.

A really solid set. The mood is pleasantly dark, the guitar lines are fairly spectacular and there's no letup from the drum machine. I suppose the easiest touchpoints for a geezer like me are SOM and Tiamat. My guess is these boys remember those bands, too. Big smiles.

Jon Worley