Review of the Album "Unfortunately Dead" by Czech Death Metal Band Krabathor

Unfortunately Dead is a slightly different Krabathor album but it is still a good one

Krabathor has been active in the death metal scene since 1984 and they really impressed me with their superb brand of extremely heavy technical death metal. In 2000, they released the album called Unfortunately Dead and in spite of that album title, these guys show that they are very much alive and playing death metal that is well-written, technical, and creative. The album in terms of its style represents early Morbid Angel as well as influences of Sepultura. This album is not as technical as their previous works and it may take 2 to 3 full listens to really have the music sink in so you can like it.

Doing the vocals for this album is American bassist Paul Speckmann who now lives in the Czech Republic. He shares vocal duties with Petr “Christopher” Krystof.

“They Are Unfortunately Dead” is the song that starts off this album and the song is about a captain whose boat crashed at sea because he was under the influence of alcohol. The passengers became so horrified that they died as well. The vocals in this song are rough enough that they sound like the band Hexen. This song and the riffing is pretty good but is it as good as Morbid Angel? That's kind of a judgment call. “The Eagles You Can Have” is metaphorically trying to say that in life when certain things happen you lose a piece of identity, whatever you think that you are identified by. “Mirror of Your Steps” sounds like a mixture of Morbid Angel along with that chunky death metal but Krabathor was more technical in their earlier years and their musical execution was better but this album is certainly not bad. The second main riff while not as good as Morbid Angel is respectable enough and better than the chunky beginning that we heard. “Different Fate” is a song that tries to tell us that the way we used to be able to live has changed and that we need to adapt to the times even though when we die we go back to dust. Surviving on Arrogance is a very heavy song that tries to tell us that through education we can eradicate the hate that goes around. The song also says that sometimes change is a good thing but some of us are afraid to change for a variety of reasons. “To Be Unknown” is a song that lyrically is about going through life not being known or recognized by others but if you live life like that, it is possible to go through life not knowing what is going to happen to you. It is a sort of song that lyrically may cause us to really think about why some people do the things that they do. “The Evil That Men Can Do” is a song about what happens when man is given free will as family feuds are common and death is a part of life. Ending this album is the song called “Death Through the Centuries” and I find the beginning of this song really creative as the piano and keyboard play creates a sort of classical atmosphere. The song asks one very important question and that is what is the cause of human suffering? The reasons for this may be of a religious and philosophical nature.

However, there is one flaw about this album and it is that the song structure is predictable. The songs have this rough, chunky straightforward style that we heard in the early 1990s but even so, Krabathor may be the Czech Republic's best death metal band.

The last song in this album may turn off some listeners because they may wonder what the heck is going on for this band to have a spoken narration about how people through the centuries died and how their brains stopped working. Once again, there is that Hexen vocal influence in this song. It is acceptable for bands to try something different musically as long as it works and in this case, it does work out okay. Sometimes, change is a good thing especially in music. The beginning of this song is a pleasant experience for the ears. There is a symphonic part that has a touch of Arcturus influence in it.