I’ve written about the good Rev. Deadeye a few times, but I talked more about his shows than his albums, so I’m here to say, “My what a difference a little production makes.” Deadeye’s earlier works were best described as a “frantic explosion of slide-guitar blues meets tent-revival preaching”, which is a polite way of calling them “muddy”, a result of them having been self-recorded with his travelling recording studio. On Trials and Tribulations he went into a studio in Europe and laid down an album in a day, and the blistering pace and frantic energy that must have been present in the studio that day comes through beautifully in the recordings.
The album is 10 tracks long and, make no doubt, has all the Deadeye signatures: revival preacher on a bender vocals, homemade guitar slide work, washtub kick-drum, and slide-finger cymbal bashing ever present throughout the album. Yet, it’s the album’s quietest moments that really shine a light on Deadeye’s abilities. With the clarity of production and tracks like “Coldest Heart” and (my favorite track) “Her Heart Belongs To The Wind”, you realize just how close Deadeye is to being mentioned in the same conversations as Scott H. Biram, all he needs is the same breaks. I’m gonna have to say the new Reverend Deadeye is Essential Listening, especially if you’re a fan of the aforementioned Scott H. Biram, or the One-Man Band scene in general, as he’s easily in the Top 10….press or not.
Reverend Deadeye – Her Heart Belongs To The Wind
Reverend Deadeye – Can’t Take It With You
Reverend Deadeye – Jesus On The Mainline
Autopsy IV
Part time blogger. Full time hater.
Well worth seeing live, but most of the energy doesn’t transfer all that well to CD. Although if you’re into Biram and the ilk check out The Folksinger mvie
Agree. Love this album, and love how he is so hard to read as an artist. You don’t know if he’s seriously preaching, or doing a bit. That way he can be all things to all people.
well I just pressed play on ‘her heart belongs to the wind’ and had to comment-just beautiful,full of pathos,understated picking,a revolving simple motif- wonderful, just wonderful.