The Old Dead Tree

Literally fuelled by pain — the grief and anger arising from a suicide — The Nameless Disease is overflowing with naked emotion. When the Old Dead Tree’s drummer took his own life, the band channelled their negative energy into their art. That adds a tragic sincerity to the album’s gloomy outlook, but despite the sad reality they’re dealing with, the Old Dead Tree never seem to step over the brink into utter despair. Vaguely lying across the boundaries of goth metal and doom rock, The Nameless Disease tosses death metal growls in with powerful clean vocals and soulful harmonies; the guitars are crunchy and crisp, the leads sing, and everything falls together in a beautifully balanced whole. The disparity of comparisons the Old Dead Tree can draw (Cemetary, Type O Negative, Entwine, Megadeth, Depeche Mode) should be a pretty good indication of how hard it is to nail this band down, and with an album as powerful as this they’re even harder to write off.