Courtesy DEAdpOOL has been together nearly 10 years with the same lineup. '

THEY ARE: DEAdpOOL

THE SOUND: Hard-driving, in-your-face metal, along the lines of Machine Head, Lamb of God and Pantera

THE MEMBERS: Gordon Ireland, vocals; Carlos Lopez, guitar; Mike Lopez, bass; Chris Wolfe, drums

THEIR WORDS: Carlos Lopez said the band's influences include not only hard rock, thrash and progressive metal, but also flamenco guitar, classical guitar and jazz. “The difficult thing that we try to achieve is to show those influences in a metal genre. Sometimes we pull it off, sometimes we don't,” he said. Ireland added, “Carlos isn't afraid of putting in a guitar solo. I think that makes us a little bit more musical than a lot of the new bands out there.”

THE ALBUMS: Off the Deep End (1999); Espíritus Muertos (2003); Idle Hands (2007)

WHERE TO SEE THEM: The band's release party for Idle Hands begins at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, with Angerkill, Flesh Electric and Kin of Cain at Bond's 007, 450 Soledad St. Admission is $5.

THE WEB: deadpoolsociety.com; myspace.com/deadpoolsociety

THE 210 TAKE: DEAdpOOL prides itself on being together nearly 10 years with the same lineup; the maturity that resulted from writing and playing together so long is evident in the tightness of “Idle Hands.” Despite that title and the cover art — which depicts Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco modified so that God sports Satan's horns — this isn't strictly death metal. The songs are mostly about addiction — so much so that the band toyed with calling the album “Addiction.” “We're drinkers, we're not hardcore drug users, but you see it every day, in the scene and in the people we play with,” said Ireland, the primary lyricist. Listen for the track “Black Cloud,” which the guys said represents a breakthrough in the band's evolution. “Our style was a lot of yelling and growing and a lot of anger. This song ‘Black Cloud' has more melody to it,” Carlos Lopez said. “It's a stretch from what we've normally done in the past, and Gordon really outdid himself. It's kind of added a new element to our writing.”

Jessica Belasco | 210SA contributor