Album Review: Dethlehem - "Destroyers of the Realm"

Nature abhors a vacuum.  Whenever there’s a gap of empty space, the universe will seemingly conspire to make sure that atoms of some kind or another rush to fill the void.  Hell, I once saw a term paper were a kid tried to argue that the tide swells at night because there’s no water on the moon and the ocean is attempting to reach the moon and fill the void.  Nonsense, but you had to admire the effort.

Anyway, in the wake of the death of Dave Brockie and the solid-but-still-uncertain future of GWAR, we suddenly see this release from Dethlehem called “Destroyers of the Realm,” which attempt to curry much of the same favor as the Scumdogs.  Now, it’s probably happy coincidence that another ridiculous costumed band would pop up to possibly contend for the crown, but with a release from sea-faring miscreants Swashbuckle also dawning, suddenly it’s a trend. 

So does “Destroyers of the Realm” have the chops to compete for lofty title of ‘most ridiculous metal act?’  First off, there’s a lot of stuff competition for that title, and the great majority of contenders are not in on the joke.  Second, the short answer is ‘not really.’

Dethlehem is a self-titled RPG metal band, which I like the concept of – lord knows there’s enough video game playing metal nerds out there (myself included.)  But, the reasons why this band needs their own splinter genre remain unclear.  RPG metal, for those curious, is essentially just melodic death metal that’s nerdier than usual (again, that’s a high bench mark.)

Conceptually, there’s a lot to like about “Destroyers of the Realm,” from the concept of an album as a video game (culminating in a boss fight,) to the home made medieval costumes and low-rent, DIY nature of the entire experience.  For all that it is and isn’t, this record is a labor of love.  Every iota of the presentation is appropriately tongue in cheek and properly hackneyed, so the musicians behind the helmets of Dethlehem understand what their band is and what they want it to be.

Sadly, it’s the music itself that doesn’t measure up.  “Destroyers of the Realm” is pretty boilerplate as far as melodic death is concerned, and while there are moments where the band reaches for something bordering on power metal presentation (“Final Voyage of the Goblinnaught,”) it is not so evidently successful as to bridge the gap to a new sound.  “Mystic Island” is a cut that shows a lot of promise toward the end of the record with some very solid riffing and a sound that ventures beyond the meager boundaries the band has set for themselves.  Still, there’s something missing from the brew, a magnetic quality that would latch the listener in and retain their attention.

The opening piece, “Knightmare” transitions back and forth between death metal and a more traditional showcase, but at eight minutes (and it feels like eight minutes,) the track has a lot of fat that could have been left behind on the cutting room floor.  The album then careens into “Oathbound,” the feature single, but that song descends into madness fairly quickly, leaving the listener without a great taste for the variety that Dethlehem does occasionally offer.

“Destroyers of the Realm,” as we talked about before, is a solid concept.  The interludes between sections of the album are mildly comedic if perhaps a bit sophomoric, and metal as a genre could use a greater injection of bands who don’t take themselves so seriously.  Still, Dethlehem’s execution needs a good deal of polish before they can make further waves in the scene.