Coming up on its 10-year anniversary, Oxnard’s DEAD HEAT returns. The band’s been consistently at it and consistently solid over this time, knocking out two full lengths, a live album, and an EP, moving from releasing its music independently to Boston’s largely hardcore Triple-B Records, and on through the more diverse roster of Tankcrimes, to reach its all-important third album – and Metal Blade debut – Process Of Elimination.

Now, this how you start an album, folks! In lieu of some piss-poor, tossed together “intro”, a guitar piece touched with the classical gently welcomes us before the lid is ripped off the can with rough ‘n’ ready thrash-fueled riffery, vocalist Chris Ramos making like the illegitimate offspring of a young Chuck Billy had he been less concerned with actual singing and ALL OUT WAR’s Mike Score. The band mentions leaning more into metal realms for this album, and the execution of ‘Annihilation Nation’ and ‘Hidebound’ back it up, the latter especially vitriolic and slamming headlong into circle pit style as opposed to the dreaded “pit fu crew” mentality.

Adding a bit of quirky time signature playfulness never hurt early EXODUS or INTRUDER any, and it doesn’t do any damage here either, ‘The Order’ rushing quickly past, just off-kilter enough to cause a “Huh? What?” moment for the listener who’s paying attention. I’m not sure who dropped the amphetamines in these guys’ Red Bulls, but ‘Enemy’ is quite simply one of the best examples of gritty thrash I’ve heard in years, I tell you. Fuckin’ years! Absolutely combustible, destructive rhythms courtesy the Rodriguez / Amador drum and bass kill team and shouted vocals in the chorus, not a breakdown in sight, I could almost see this as a transitional SEPULTURA track between Arise and Chaos A.D., when the Brazilians went tits up and floating for a lot of us. The riffwork of Justin Ton and newfound lead wizard Ricky Garcia is the stuff of which legends are born here.

Positioned perfectly at the mid-point of the album, the interlude ‘Seventh Gate’ is obliterated by the awkward theme of ‘DH Stomp’. I get it; every band like this needs an anthem, but ‘DH Stomp’ is about as clumsily placed here as any clunker I’ve ever heard and would’ve had more bite had it shown up on an EP or even, possibly, earlier in the album. Thankfully, much ground is reclaimed by the crossover one-two punch of ‘Solace Denied’ and ‘By My Will’. Overtly hardcore during the verses, but metallically crushing in the chorus, ‘Hatred Bestowed’ closes Process Of Elimination, another brief and subtle guitar bridge reminding us where we started.

DEAD HEAT knows where it came from and, if they can ride the momentum the weight of Metal Blade could and should put behind this band reeking of legitimacy, there’s no telling where it might go.
Review By: Lord Randall

DEAD HEAT
Process Of Elimination
Metal Blade