Metal is alive and well in America today. Victory Records artist, Dead to Fall, is proof.

Not only has Dead to Fall managed to work their way into Victory Records, one of the most respected and reputable underground music labels, but also they managed to release an almost flawless freshman effort.

"Everything I Touch Falls to Pieces" is an incredible merger of death metal, intelligent lyrics and well-conceived musicianship. In track 3, the gates of hell are opened up for someone who will be spending eternity there, "she looked at me with fearful eyes and said...and then I saw the blood coming, the gates of hell opened for me, as far as my eyes could see, in carnage, your demise." Track 6 is a cry out to a former friend, "I have really grown to hate you and everything you stand for...this pen would go to better use, if I shoved it into your throat, and let you choke on your blood-filled breaths."

The album includes two instrumental efforts; the first is a building crescendo, culminating in the metal bliss that is track 2, Memory. The second instrumental, track 9, entitled Doraematu, is a Led Zepplin-esque classical guitar work that is second to nothing in metal that this reviewer has ever heard.

This album has so much to offer in absolutely every track. It never slows down, one talented work after another. Most discs have one or two songs that can be skipped over with little notice to the listener. Not so in Dead to Fall's disc, as every piece of this musical puzzle is a treasured mastery of pure metal madness.

Jeff Petermann
www.buzzgrinder.com