Review Summary: I’m going Ghost!
In an interesting twist where the instructor has seemingly become the student, Death SS has gone full-on Ghost with their eleventh album. There’s certainly been a fair amount of cross-pollination over the years; Tobias Forge has openly admitted to being but one of many acts that the Italian horror metal group has influenced since their 1977 formation and hints of greater accessibility have been brewing since at least 2018’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Armageddon. But with the recruitment of Prequelle producer Tom Dalgety and a new team of musicians alongside vocalist Steve Sylvester and longtime keyboardist Freddy Delirio, The Entity suggests a full commitment behind their leap of faith.
While the results might not seem too different from Death SS’s usual schtick on the surface, their presentation has never sounded so polished. The production hits a sweet spot of squeaky clean fullness without sounding toothless, allowing each instrument to stand out as they put in pristine performances. The keyboards and guitars have frequent battles for prominence as the former dip into King Diamond-esque organs, symphonic swells, and spoopy swirls while the latter are as comfortable with power metal shredding as they are in doom brooding, and the rhythms are consistently tight.
Ironically enough, Sylvester himself risks being the biggest obstacle in the album’s execution. His gravelly bark has no doubt been the group’s most recognizable feature from the beginning but with how tightly arranged the instrumentations gets to be, one could argue that he comes close to sounding out of place in spots. It’s easy to imagine how a cleaner singer would sound in his place, especially on something softer like “Love Until Death” or “The Evil Painter,” but a combination of smooth lines, choral backing, and his ghoulish character keep from being a dealbreaker.
Having twelve songs on board also potentially repeats the band’s tendency to overstuff their albums, but The Entity is a lot more manageable thanks to its forty-six minute length being their shortest since 1997’s Do What Thou Wilt. The first half is especially strong as “Justified Sinner” and “Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde” put in some fun earworms while “Possession” and “Two Souls” boast more frantic speeds and “Out To Get Me” hits a midway climax with atmospheric balladry. Fortunately, things come through toward the end as “Cimiteria” could’ve come straight from Meliora with its stomping chorus.
As much as I have my doubts about The Entity being some sort of late era commercial breakthrough, I don’t think Death SS has sounded this refreshed since 1990’s Heavy Demons. While it doesn’t have the same grit or spontaneous spirit as the previous efforts, the more focused presentation has a decidedly better outcome. The songs are catchy even when a couple probably could’ve been cut and the ornate musicianship still had the sort of cheekiness to show the younger groups how it’s done. It’s hard to say how much more Death SS will be able to offer but it’s great to see something this spry so late in their career.
