Searching for a ray of lyrical light in John Mellencamp's latest treatise on the state of the world proves consuming—but largely fruitless. That, however, makes the album all the more compelling. Its unrelentingly bleak landscape, populated by plain-spoken narrators and richly detailed characters and settings, leans more on the death part of the title equation, with pointed side trips into the political climate ("Young Without Lovers," "Troubled Land," "Without a Shot" and the particularly specific "Jena") and philosophical essays like "John Cockers" and "For the Children," in which Mellencamp seems to question his own capacity for the continuing struggle. T Bone Burnett's austere and atmospheric production brings a fresh kind of texture to the performance aspects of Mellencamp's songs, and his bonus DVD mix in the new HD CODE format lives up to its promise for richer and more articulated sound quality.—Gary Graff