Dethonator—Race Against the Sun: Part Two (2020)

Details

All music written by Adam Lineker. Recorded by Tris Lineker, drums and bass at Aspect Studios and everything else at the band’s home studio. Mixed and mastered by Chris Brookes. Cover artwork created by All4band Design. Released 27 November 2020.

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Band

Tris Lineker—Lead vocals and guitars
Henry Brooks—Guitars and keyboards
Adz Lineker—Bass, dethvox and cello
John Armstrong—Drums

Tracks

For the dead travel fast
Transylvanian ways
Wreck in Whitby
A new kind of maniac
Beautiful in death
Blood of my blood
Race against the sun

Review

What do the four members of Dethonator and I have in common, apart from our love of quality heavy music? We were all, at one time, students at the University of St Andrews and members of the student RockSoc—hosts of St Andrews’ only alternative club night catering to every musical taste from classic rock to black metal.

This is a fabulous album. It is heavy, it’s melodic, it’s fun, it’s fresh and ambitious—not bad for a band formed 20 years ago. For those who hate concept albums, look away now.

This is a concept album, formed around the story of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

It had always felt important that our musical retelling of Dracula should be as faithful to the original novel as possible. Almost all prominent adaptations and even some significant pieces of Dracula scholarship have built a labyrinth of changes, insertions and confusion around the story. Our version would give Bram Stoker his due respect. In accordance with this fidelity, the original words and tone of Stoker’s novel are well represented in the album’s lyrics.
Adz Lineker, bass

Each time I come back to listen to this album I’m struck more and more by its ambition. A fabulous fusion of progressive heavy metal and thrash this album is epic and operatic in its scope. Like a modern-day, metal Pink Floyd’s The Wall or a whole album of songs as monstrous as Iron Maiden’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”.

Conclusion

This is an album that demands your attention, listened to as a whole from start to finish. Even better, start it 40 minutes before the dawn and race towards the sun as quickly as dracula is racing against it.

This album perfectly captures the gothic horror of the novel within powerful riffs and twisted melodies. Good stuff, really good stuff. But I wouldn’t expect anything else from fellow St Andrews alumni.

Review score: 95%

Video

Disclosure

Dethonator contacted me inviting me to review their 2020 album Race Against the Sun: Part Two, which I was delighted about, not least because we are all University of St Andrews alumni. I have no connections to Dethonator. I’m not being paid to review this album, in fact, I bought my own review copy of the album.