Once in a while, you stumble across an album (and a band, for that matter) that are just too eccentric to ignore. Something like this happened to me when I was a teenager and discovered System of a Down, a band that was so bizarre and unique in their twist on the nu-metal and alternative metal sounds of the day that it ended up transcending them entirely. As an adult, something similar has happened to me once again with one of Finland\u2019s finest metal exports, Deuteronomium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To me, it takes a serious amount of guts to make your debut album release an album like Street Corner Queen<\/em>. Originally a death\/doom-styled act similar to the other early 90\u2019s sounds of Sentenced, GROMS, and early Antestor, Deuteronomium\u2019s first proper EP, Tribal Eagle<\/em>, was the beginning of something else entirely with its death \u2019n roll anthems capped off by a hard detour into black metal territory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Street Corner Queen<\/em> takes this to the next level. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever listened to a metal album that experiments with as much reckless abandon as this one. In part, it\u2019s why this album seems to have gained a kind of love\/hate response from some, if what I\u2019ve come across online is to be believed. It\u2019s understandable, too; like Marmite, this is something that will no doubt be the catalyst for some strong opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Street Corner Queen<\/em> begins with its title track, a blend of In Flames style riffing with Entombed drive, showcasing Miika Partalla\u2019s thuggish roar right off the bat. But right away, the album takes a hard detour into all kinds of territory. \u201cDruglord\u201d (probably my favourite track on this one) grills the listener\u2019s ears with violent, punk-like fury; \u201cSpell of Hell\u201d switches gears entirely and descends into classic and slightly melancholic black metal that is executed perfectly. \u201cThe Fall\u201d continues the black metal vocal style, but near the end of the song, shifts into Metallica\/Eternal Decision-styled thrash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s when things get stranger – and to be frank, this is where I struggle with the album the most. The trio of songs in the middle of this album – \u201cEmpty Shell,\u201d \u201cHuman Nature,\u201d and \u201cBonsai People\u201d – are so out of place sounding on an album by a death metal band that I feel like they would utterly fail if done by a band lacking the talent and vision that Deuteronomium so obviously has. \u201cEmpty Shell\u201d sounds like 90\u2019s alt-rock at first, but mixes it with a similar sound one would later hear coming from a band like Woods of Ypres. \u201cHuman Nature\u201d continues the death \u2019n roll vibes, but takes a major detour into what sounds like a late-night hard rock soundscape, before segueing into an ill-advised bit of what sounds like a studio outtake of rapping over a guitar line. I\u2019m not sure if this was done with tongue-in-cheek intent, but it\u2019s bizarre (reminds me of Crimson Thorn\u2019s unserious foray into rap and death metal with their hidden track \u201cSomething Else\u201d). \u201cBonsai People\u201d is like a lost nu-metal track from the late \u201990\u2019s, and it stands out like a sore thumb on an album even like this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the experimental 3-song suite, it\u2019s back to business with the fantastic \u201cBlack Raven,\u201d a bluster of driving Entombed-style death \u2019n roll that hits every right note. \u201cC.C.R.\u201d follows, the one instance where the band doesn\u2019t switch things up entirely. \u201cIII\u201d substitutes some vicious black metal shrieks over the death \u2019n roll sound, but ends up spinning its tires a little by the end. \u201cNorthern Praise\u201d tops it all off with a gothic-styled metal worship song that sounds like they hired Liv Kristine (Theatre of Tragedy, Leaves\u2019 Eyes) or Anita Auglend (The Sins of Thy Beloved) to do some session singing (which was admirably handled by Eeva Vehni\u00e4\u00ednen).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some bands thrive on consistency – Obituary and Cannibal Corpse, for example. Not Deuteronomium. Like Mexico\u2019s Lament and Norway\u2019s Extol, Deuteronomium aren\u2019t afraid to push the envelope. For me, that\u2019s why the band and this album in particular have endeared themselves to me so much. Street Corner Queen<\/em> is a brazen record for a debut one. It flirts with a bunch of different styles while keeping its death \u2019n roll heart intact throughout, ending up feeling like the sonic equivalent of a buffet table. And like a buffet, there\u2019s something for everyone on here. Despite its obvious missteps, there\u2019s an undeniable charm about this record\u2019s refusal to be pigeonholed. Follow-up records would opt for a more consistent sound, whether it be the mid-90\u2019s Carcass sounds heard on Here to Stay<\/em>, the more traditional melodeath sounds of From the Midst of the Battle<\/em>, or the return to a death\/doom style on The Amen<\/em>, but in my view, the wild eclecticism of Street Corner Queen<\/em> makes for the most engaging listen of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Fans Of: Depends on the track! But fans of bands as diverse as Entombed, Woods of Ypres, Pantokrator, Frosthardr, Antestor, Immortal Souls, In Flames and mid-90\u2019s Carcass will all find something to enjoy here. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once in a while, you stumble across an album (and a band, for that matter)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":17320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1020],"tags":[73,262,3498,38,3499,271,191,94,275],"class_list":["post-17319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-black-metal","tag-crimson-thorn","tag-death-and-roll","tag-death-metal","tag-death-doom","tag-deuteronomium-d54","tag-extol-d31","tag-finland-d78","tag-lament-d74"],"yoast_head":"\n