Melodic and Thrash-tinged Finnish Death Metal act DEAD SAMARITAN started out as THE BEAUTY IN DYING in 2001, by releasing a couple of demos prior to changing the band’s name to the current name, DEAD SAMARITAN. This 5-piece act’s 2nd 4-track demo, titled "Counting The Body Toll", that was released in 2010 by the band’s line-up that they even have nowadays, was obviously good enough to catch the attention of UK’s Casket Music – and 2 years later from that, DEAD SAMARITAN’s debut full-length studio record "The Only Good Samaritan…" was unleashed via this label. DEAD SAMARITAN name bands like CARCASS, AT THE GATES, DEATH, EXODUS and basically the whole NWOBHM phenomenon as their main musical influences – and whatnot, after giving a few concentrated spins for their debut, at least the first 3 mentioned band names came through DEAD SAMARITAN’s musical approach kinda easily even – plus, I would also add small portions of bands like SLAYER and ARCH ENEMY (mainly because of Valendis’ vocal delivery though), into the DEAD SAMARITAN’s relatively high profile sound. Indeed. The whole band sounds well rehearsed, knowing how they want DEAD SAMARITAN to sound like. The band’s fine use of melodies, hooky elements and heavy and beautifully compelling riff fests on the record, speak all together for all the hard work there’s been poured into the band’s songwriting process. Also, what I really like on this record, the DEAD SAMARITAN camp has wisely decided to stay away from the current extreme Metal trend, in which some bands desperately try to reach some credibility for themselves by loading their stuff with a ridiculous amount of blast beats and other crazy yet unnecessary extreme elements – just to become considered as the most extreme act one’s next door. On the contrary DEAD SAMARITAN have decided to sail across the open seas with controlled speeds, counting on some other way cooler musical stylistics that they have in their possession in the band. "The Only Good Samaritan…" is a solid release for being the band’s debut only – and I am positive this stuff should make lots of friends too. Oh, and just one more thing: If you were ever wondering whether Angela Gossow may have a twin sister somewhere (vocally in this case), she has been found now. As it’s known already, sisters simply cannot live too far away from each other. She lives in Finland, which should not come as that big of surprise to anyone, I believe. Valendis has this tendency to sound like Angela on DEAD SAMARITAN’s debut album, more than just occasionally only. Is that a good thing for them or not, well, you can always play your role as a judge for them, right? Contacting DEAD SAMARITAN, go to: www.deadsamaritan.com, label: www.coprorecords.co.uk/casket