Normally, my reviews contain some kind of a balance between positive and negative aspects, give an explanation about what kind of things I think should be emphasized and come up with a final thought. But A Lower Deep forces me to do differently. 

First of all, the description of ‘heavy metal’ is very vague. A combination of prog/heavy metal would be a better description which guides me to a first point of argumentation. The music is hard to get, certainly at first sight. Not because of the difficult riffs like we know from bands like Meshuggah or Strapping Young Lad (a little overestimating, yet you’ll get the point of complexity) but because the sphere is strange. The most important reason for this is the use of the vocals. They’re clean and, again, strange, as if melancholic. Imagine yourself a hopeless Tool song with a somehow ‘iron’, tearful voice. It’s a shame that these vocals are used in a small range of notes though. Very high, not as in power-metal, with a lot of endings towards the higher notes. I would almost draw a graph to show you the way the music is build up.

Then, I would like to mention the fact that detail is a very important factor in this. But, as you probably would know by now, detailed in a specific unique way. That is, because these details are actually easy to notice, the backing (grunting) vocals are very present for those who would be a fan of singing in this way, but also wouldn’t bother people who dislike it. 

Then, the use of children’s voices (instead of woman’s) is another interesting point. It is almost logical to include them, because it certainly fits in, but on the other hand, can you give me five bands that actually managed to include children’s vocals in a way that seems to be right with the music?
 

I think you’ll get the point by now. There are a lot of things to discuss in here, a lot of fine aspects in one cd. But keep in mind that this cd is not that accessible and even if I’m positive about the combinations this band seems to come up with, the main reason for making a cd is to listen to it for a few times. And I doubt whether that would do for A Lower Deep.