It seems much further back, but just two years ago we got a debut album from a supergroup made up of some truly potent assassins from the underground of death metal that brought us what was undeniably one of the best works that the style produced that year: “Serpent’s Curse” from Heads for the Dead. A horror-centric theme with an old school approach that brought new life into the genre for many of us, a follow-up has been more than anticipated by all accounts, and I don’t think it’d be crazy to say that such a quick turn around was not what we were expecting. And yet, I don’t think anyone will be complaining once they hear what this effort has to offer.

With a whopping set of twelve tracks coming at us for this album, it’s no argument to say that Heads for the Dead really dug deep to deliver for this record in a way that can give us a proper follow-up to what was done just two years ago. Not even fifteen minutes in and being no less than amazingly impressed at virtually every turn, it’s hard for me to deny the fact that Heads for the Dead has created an extremely successive sophomore album. There isn’t a single song throughout the whole of “Into the Red” that doesn’t reek with horror excellence that is only fitting for the likes of death metal, and Heads for the Dead brought that performance with immense talent and a satisfying sound that immediately makes all twelve of these songs nothing to be underestimated in any capacity as we’re plunged into the blood-soaked world that this band brings forth. Between the massive riffs, gripping musicianship that adorns all of “Into the Red”, vocals that can boil the blood with their tremendous variation in pitch, and talent that spans many decades between all of the very accomplished members, it’s so difficult to not claim this as what’s likely one of the last great stops for death metal in 2020, and it’s a stop that I’ll likely be making many times over. All of the expectations that this band could’ve had going into this record were blown right out of the water as Heads for the Dead succeed in doing so in extraordinary fashion, and it’s every song that gives us many reasons as to why “Into the Red” is everything we could’ve hoped for.

This year has been absolutely overwhelming with quality death metal the likes of which cannot be ignored, and I cannot help but find it fitting that Heads for the Dead just barely manages to squeeze in their own entry to make the scene even more tantalizing as a whole. There’s so much of what we’re always hoping for within the confines of “Into the Red”, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see this on heavy rotation throughout the community for quite some time after its dropped.

“Into the Red” releases on December 11th via I, Voidhanger Records!

LISTEN to singles from “Into the Red” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Heads for the Dead on Facebook here.