Overthrow

At the time of writing, I'd award the prize for last millennium's most obscure band that somehow built a long career in the new one (pretty specific award, I reckon) to North Carolina's Gross Reality. Originally active from 1991 to 1996, without however having the chance to record anything, the same core of musicians, plus one new guitarist, are now on a roll with three full-lengths in the last ten years, after their 2009 reformation. I became acquainted with them after coming across their excellent latest effort Return to Ruin last year, so why not check out what else they have in store for us?

Overthrow (2014) is the first full-length of Gross Reality's new era. I found its artwork rather striking, especially coupled with a title like 'Worthless Humans' that was given the task of introducing the album, but I didn't really expect any overt 'spacey' atmosphere, as the band's style usually falls within conventional boundaries. This is also the case here, only with each song attempting to outpace the previous, almost as if the guys were trying to make up for their long absence. So, unsurprisingly, the only track that initially stood out to me was the only slow number. Much like their later 'Time Portals', 'Generation 36' leaves the compositions more room to breathe, for once, with frequent lead flourishes, and doesn't fall victim to the rapid-fire vocal delivery that plagues the rest of the album. Indeed, Daniel Powell's Hetfield-meets-Stone vocals will never not be cool, but even the man himself starts to get tiring in the long run, for his tendency to double, when not to say triple, layer himself and appear like he never shuts up, or often simply cramming too many syllables and saying too many things in too little time. All this amusingly makes me feel like hearing Slayer's 'Payback' again in at least 8 different variations, and the vaguely downtuned guitars do recall later Slayer from time to time. The rest, not so much – but I'm not exactly impressed either. Gross Reality is a melodic band at its core, or at least that's the aspect where they intrigued me later on anyway, so hearing all those songs in a hurry to pass by in a blur, without not even a chorus or anything worth remembering, despite them clearly trying in this regard, is a bit disappointing...

...although, luckily, when they get it right, you get something like 'Dirt Filled Skulls' or the vertiginous 'Sleep into Dreams', which even has a sort of tech thrash approach, easily knocking you unconscious out of sheer force. The formula isn't terribly different from the rest, but at least they feel more finished than momentary outbursts like 'I'm Absent' or ''Haunting the Waters', not to mention the directionless title-track that disappointingly ends the album. At the end of the day, Overthrow just doesn't have that much to offer aside from some occasional great moments. Easy to say that already the following Escaping Gravity is a way more refined and upgraded version of this one. You can give a spin to some tracks, 'Sleep into Dreams' and 'Generation 36' above all, and safely skip the rest.

'Overthrow is a testament to the idea that it's never too late to truly hit your mark as a band', Divebomb Records advertised. Change that to either of the subsequent albums and I 100% agree.

-review written for the 13th Diamhea Memorial Review Challenge – may you rest in peace, Chris.