DEAD SOUL TRIBE – A Murder Of Crows

Sometimes all the accolades in the world can’t help an album out. All the hubbub, all the hoopla, all the rumors, all the people in the know saying “wait til you hear THIS album,” are actually just wrong. And sadly, so is the case with Dead Soul Tribes’ second release, A Murder of Crows.

There is a bit of podsnappery (Charles Dickens, look it up) with this album. There is an aura of “I’m better than you, I’m actually brilliant and you don’t understand that” coming from band leader Deron Graves. He’s right; we probably don’t know what the hell he is doing. He probably knows more than most of us about writing music, and the fact that his songs’ time signatures “count to five instead of four at times” will mean something to someone. But in this case, you probably won’t care.

Not that A Murder of Crows is BAD by any means. It’s full of gloom, of atmospheric music that at times, is intense and awesome. But it’s the vocals and the exact same beat/tone/ambiance of every song that will eventually ask you if you are listening to the same song over and over.

Because Latin numbers are cryptic and intellectual, this album starts at song I and ends on song number XII. Whooopeedeedooo.

Where does Dead Soul Tribe shine? At the chorus. The first song, “Stone by Stone,” has a brilliant crescendo and emphatic chorus. But you’ll hear it time and time again. The first song blends into song II, “The Awakening,” and you are going to hear a choral effect on the vocals throughout. It sounds like Graves is singing in a huge tin room, because the echo and delay effect is prevalent on all his vocals. The mix does not allow his voice to really be HEARD; instead, it almost feels like an effect instead of a lead. If that’s what he is going for, well, it worked.

The best thing you can do is listen to the CD one song at a time, but not all in the same sitting. “In A Garden Made of Stones” is a fine song. You’ll hear a bit of new Dokken tinge to the vocals here. It is somber, melodic, with an underlying darkness that you have to hear to appreciate. “Crows on the Wire” is a cool song too. In fact, it’s a great song. The chorus of, “take me away from myself,” is poetic and relevant, and sounds like something King’s X would write.

You are going to hear flute, acoustic guitar, heavy riffs and melodic singing on this CD. You are going to hear song writing that is both hypnotic and rousing. There is honestly not one bad song on this CD, but that doesn’t mean it’s memorable.

A Murder of Crows is basically Teflon; nothing sticks.