Death Dealer (Deaf Dealer) - Death Dealer

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	Sherry	03:40
	2	Overshoot	03:31
	3	Occident Tale	05:05
	4	No Colors	04:06
	5	Cross My Way	03:44

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	The Screamer	04:06
	2	Far and Away	03:04
	3	We Can't Come Back	03:51
	4	Death Dealer	04:02
	5	You Said Rock	03:18
	6	Under to Cover	03:51

Side 3

		Track Name	Length
	1	The Faddist	04:11
	2	Just Until the Day	04:32
	3	Coercion to Kill	04:44
	4	Just a Victim	05:25

Side 4

		Track Name	Length
	1	Danger of Death	03:18
	2	High School Bridge	03:34
	3	Die Hard	04:18
	4	Show Me Your Ace (Pearl Harbor)	04:01
	5	Try to Get Out	06:22

Photos

Videos

No Video

Information/Write-up

Years of a dement elevation for the Canadian HM Band DEATH DEALER

Starting during the hotter than hell Heavy Metal ‘80s in Jonquière -a bastion for heavy metal, Québec Canada, a five-piece heavy metal band was trying to build their own experimental style of metal music. "We were working really hard floating upon surrounding the heavy metal scene to forge songs from our heart and musical experiences." Nothing but the desire of making something NEW! That was and still is the DEATH DEALER mission. The name, DEATH DEALER, was founded in the summer of 1981 on a sunny afternoon in André’s room after a practice session looking at a poster from Frank Frazetta, an American artist well known for themes of fantasy and science fiction.

The story started in Jonquière, this local heavy metal environment, which gave us all the passion and success that we could expect. From 1981 until mid 1984, DEATH DEALER was getting some glory via lots of major events and touring with bands like ANVIL and CONEY HATCH along with a lot of airplay on local radio stations, which elevated us as a major popular heavy metal band. Propelled by thousands of fans, our music reached headbangers all over the globe with the help of our friend Wayne Archibald that led us during the summer of ’83 to sign a major contract with the most important heavy metal label of that time, Metal Blade Records and Brian Slagel. Following the appearance on “Metal Massacre 4”, DEATH DEALER with the immortal ‘Cross My Way” became well-known worldwide as the ‘Canadian Maple Tormentors’ in all the heavy metal magazines. DEATH DEALER reached the top of the ’80 independent Heavy Metal Charts in the US and elsewhere alongside with Slayer, Metallica, Mercyful Fate, Venom, Anthrax and all the other major bands of that time.

This special double LP album, “IV SIDES OFF”, is kind of an anthology referring to those wonderful years from 1981 until mid 1984. We did play so many shows and events which all derived into the production of this immortal demo/ album. On a winter weekend, we recorded it at the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi (UQAC) as an experimental trilogy project. The side IV of the album includes 5 never released songs from the band recorded in the baseman of St. Mary's church in Jonquière, were we had practiced locally at that time. It was recorded just before Gilles Bergeron had left the band in July. The song 'Show me your Ace' was first named 'Pearl Harbor' when we composed it. That year, Death Dealer was creating music that led to a new and original heavy metal sound.

Here is the never-before released album - DEATH DEALER!!! From the never faded away memory of the DEATH DEALER guys, this debris will leave hopefully a mark in history!!! We made sure to keep its original energy intact. As we still feel nowadays a strong infatuation coming from the heavy metal scene for the DEATH DEALER songs and history, this anthology is for you all.

How this unrealized album/official 1983 demo was recorded:
The real intense story of DEATH DEALER started with this frenetic production of the so called demo/ album with high studio technology during March 12/ 13, 1983. We built and composed things that reflected our mind; only that aim in the concept of the DEATH DEALER guys. It was on a Saturday morning and we were waiting on the cold snow of the UQAC’s entrance with guitars and drums prepared to create something magic. This project was realised with the strong belief from two cool guys and friends studying cinema at the Université of Quebec, Chicoutimi, Jean-Francois Bourrassa and Steeve Gagné. Jean-Francois was a guy without any compromise who invested all his time and heart in the DEATH DEALER ascension. Unfortunately he died while making a movie some years later but for us he still is far and away the main artisan of what DEATH DEALER has became. Since the day he discovered our songs he clearly wanted this production project to happen. He did really like what we were doing and he thought that we had to capture this ‘This New Heavy Metal Sound’. So, they took all the necessary arrangements at the recording studio to elaborate a high level musical production of the DEATH DEALER songs. The intention was then to have a DEATH DEALER broadcasting product getting them on the local radio stations as they were friends with Sylvain Tremblay from CKRS radio.

We did record all the stuff we had at the time. The studio was like a cinema room and we installed dispersed on the stage and in the sieges of this amphitheatre. It took all the Saturday afternoon to setup the miking of the instruments. We were nervously waiting Marc who was in Montreal that day for a musical audition at the Saint Laurent’s CEGEP. Michel got everything done within an hour and he played one of his best drum solo ever that day. I still see Jean Pierre completely excited after this, all ready to go! What a fucking drum jam he said!!! The ambiance was full and totally perceptible all around the room… We were all 100% part of this Heavy Metal experience. I remember having the sound coming in my headphone like never before; clean, sensible, a destructing line ready to give my words the support to touch the world. Michel was settled right in the middle of the scene beside us. We were disposed downside through the front seats. I was facing Marc and Jean-Pierre for the synchronization of the backing vocals and Yves was lying on something like a column middling the piece. We were keeping all together the rhythm closely like on a live performance. That’s how the production has been created. The energy is coming from that live performing experimentation. The sound engineer, Robert Cromp, lying back into the control room did start during the beginning of the afternoon some recording tests. The song ‘Death Dealer’ was played many times for that. We took many times as his convenience on Sunday morning, we started following a song list we had elaborated days before…opening with ‘Sherry’. One after the other, we recorded our secret pieces so far. All the work got completed during that day. We were playing seeing Jean-Francois through the window of the control room supervising the work. For each piece we executed, he gave us a head sign meaning it was all okay and perfect. So we continued with that feeling without knowing what the result would be. Once the recording session got finished, we opened the doors and listened to the result all around. It was like we were still playing. Not only our songs were captured on this production but most of all the energy was jailed inside with notes detectable since the first second of this act. I believe that this unusual way and method of recording gave a special touch to our real DEATH DEALER’s first commitment. An energy right from the ’80s with the only experiences left but giving our song a soul in a time. We did not really understand completely what happened. What we wanted to accomplish was to make and create music and we can feel it inside this production. For us, we were profiting the same full musical liberty as the ’70s musicians of that time. Complete freedom of creation was born, 15 cuts all different from each other. Playing on the extent of this free time is something that has no price for a musician. A few weeks after this production, DEATH DEALER had got daily playing on local radio stations with many #1 positions from this immortal recording. This production led to the first major show of DEATH DEALER on April 15th 1983 at ‘La Salle Francois-Brassard’ in Jonquière. It has been a real successful event so it led the music production company ’Première Classe’ to give DEATH DEALER a ticket to open on the ’83 tour of CONEY HATCH for their first album produced by Kim Mitchell. Saying that two hours just before this show, the main mixer broke off and we had to change with something different and make all the checkup again… What a stress we had and the pizza that has been delivered only some minutes before the show started! Not really good for my voice… After this memorial show, in the backstage room with all the major local radio musical directors, we felt that the story had just begun…
-André LaRouche, February 2007

André LaRouche: lead vocals
Marc Brassard: lead guitar, backing vocals
Yves Pedneault: lead guitar
Jean-Pierre Fortin: bass
Michel LaRouche: drums

All songs and lyrics by Death Dealer
Produced by André LaRouche and Death Dealer

Released on HIGH ROLLER RECORDS in Germany by Steffen Boehm
Album artwork by Peter Daub and Kjell Siebke.de at ‘Les Fils du Métal’ en Europe
Artwork cover by Michel LaRouche
Pictures by Wayne Archibald and Jacques Bergeron
All songs and lyrics composed by Death Dealer

Original 1983 demo recorded at the University Of Chicoutimi recording studio, March 1983
Engineered by Robert Cromp
Produced by Jean-Francois Bourrassa and Steeve Gagné
Remasterised during May 2006 at L’ARTelier Recording studio, Quebec City, Canada.
SOCAN, Canada. Worldwide copyright @2008

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