Ted Maul - White Label
Raise The Game -
RTG0042CD - 3rd September, 2007
By Paddy Walsh
Having toured wih the likes of
Akercocke, England's latest death metal export might be expected to exude a similar Satanic aesthetic, but they actually do nothing of the sort. The excellently named
Ted Maul (anyone familiar with Chris Morris' excellent news spoof Brass Eye will know who Ted Maul is, by the way) are actually a strange hybrid of death metal, hardcore, drum 'n bass and industrial which, by anyone's standards is a mix that could easily end up sounding like an incoherent mess. Thankfully,
Ted Maul have a very solid grasp on what they're doing, and
White Label turns out to be a highly engaging and sophisticated slice of modern death metal - not to mention one of the debuts of the year.
Although
Ted Maul's primary core is thoroughly of the death metal ilk, bizzarely-titled opener 'Forest...With This Memory of a Free Festival' quickly lays bare their penchant for electronics, and there is a fluidity to their usage which renders them a nice addition to proceedings rather than a hindrance.
Ted Maul rarely allow their drum 'n bass tendencies get in the way either, and their employment is only ever used in a timely fashion - 'Gutting the Reason' being an excellent example, as the sudden gabba breakdown somehow serves as a welcome break from the death metal onslaught. Only on two tracks do the group let the drum 'n bass aspects overshadow the metal - 'Six Days' is a fast,
Aphex Twin workout, somewhat reminiscent of 'Come to Daddy' (or not, the shortcomings of my own knowledge of this genre becoming increasingly more apparent throughout this review i'm sure!), and is actually very entertaining, if a little brief. However, it's on '200db's Down' that
Ted Maul threaten to let their experimental tendencies get the better of them, because although drum 'n bass beats are followed by some nifty guitar riffage, the subsequent female vocal histronics sound somewhat hackneyed - this isn't 'The Best of Clubland '07' after all - but this minor blip by no means detracts from the plusses of their non-conventional approach, and album closer 'For the Innocent' finds the perfect balance between the death metal and electronic elements (not to mention it being a homage to the victims of the London Underground bombings). Don't let the fact that i've used the words 'drum 'n bass' in this review put you off,
White Label is quite possibly one of the best slices of death metal this year, and
Ted Maul have come from nowhere to emerge as a force for original, intelligent and well-executed death metal with a twist.
Official Ted Maul Website
Official Raise The Game Website
