Spiderbomb/Redeye

Dead Confederate’s latest album In The Marrow maintains the psychedelic/grunge/early-‘90s alt-rock mash-up found on the Athens, Ga.-based band’s first two full-length albums. However, it abandons the raw anger that drove their 2008 debut Wrecking Ball and restores the personality lost on 2010’s Sugar. Most of the eight tracks are downtempo, angst-driven, haunting rock ballads that build with intensity. Opener “Slow Poisons,” a high point that originally appeared as a demo on the band’s Sunday Archive Series, sounds like being stuck in the desert – desperate, delirious and alone. The hypnotic song puts the listener in a trance as drawn-out vocals melt into distortion. Other standout songs include the upbeat, guitar-heavy tracks “Vacations” and “Bleed-Through,” both of which sound almost euphoric compared to the darker tones that tend to overwhelm the rest of the album.