Defiant Imagination

Upon first listen of Defiant Imagination, it was a mix of something in between changing my boxers and finding my jaw on the ground. This was my first introduction to Quo Vadis, in search for more melodic death metal and being a bit skeptical on the whole “technical” thing at the time I still decided to give them a chance considering this is supposed to be a godly album. Well let’s say I’m super fucking happy I found this album. Holy fucking Saruman this is a powerful album in every sense of the word powerful. This is probably the best technical death metal album out there tied with Arsis’s Celebration of Guilt; I was not fond of the whole technical thing at the time not being the hugest Necrophagist fan but Arsis and Quo Vadis opened my eyes and now I’m totally in love; well at least with these two albums – still not the hugest fan of technical death metal but those two are absolute exceptions.

Defiant Imagination starts off with Silence Calls the Storm and just when I thought Amon Amarth’s synchronized headbanging or Dio’s Rainbow in the Dark was the most metal thing out there, I hear the opening to this song and the killer drum and guitar riff I was hooked and then Stephane Pare’s growl came on he split the air in two with his fucking AWESOME blood curdling growl that is held for 17 seconds! At the time a couple years ago I’d never heard anyone hold a note for 17 teabagging seconds and not have their fucking jugular evaporate or their eye balls pulverized from the pressure. Obviously now while it seems not so impressive I still hold that to be one of the coolest metal moments ever; anyway the song continues off in a fucking awesome fashion featuring hyper fast double bass and riffs that are so hard not to headbang along with, it’s probably harder to try and not headbang along than it is having sex with Carmen Electra I swear. The song blazes by at full speed and slows down a bit for some intriguing and equally awesome slow lead guitar parts then picks back up right at the end to hear Pare yell “SILENCE CALLS THE STORM!”

Such a badass song, I thought nothing could top that song, In Contempt, Break the Cycle and Tunnel Effect follow next easily featuring some of the most spectacular musicianship I’ve heard in a while but still not as good as the mighty Silence Calls the Storm. Both songs are uber fast technical melodic death metal powerhouses featuring once again hyper fast guitar riffs, some of the flashiest and wank filled (yet addictively awesome) solos and double bass that blows your mind. Defiant Imagination continues to flow along perfect, starting off with a killer track and followed by three just as entertaining and fun tracks. Then it hits you, To The Bitter End starts off right from the fucking first second hyper fast technical death metal fused with an awesome sense of melody hits your face and hears like a brick and compels you to violently headbang or mosh by yourself or whatever. To The Bitter End is a 7 minute long song that literally doesn’t relent the ENTIRE FUCKING TIME. It starts very strong and leads you into technical death metal heaven/hell then finishes off just as strong; right at 5:40 if you don’t headbang Dio will slap you. Straight off you a continuing formula of hyper fast technical death metal with once again more hyper fast guitar riffs and solos and just as fast drumming (I swear this guy has 4 legs).

So as you might have noticed I’ve mentioned several times how fast the instruments are and I don’t know if you’ve heard this or not, assuming not since you’re reading this, and well… these are some of the fastest AND technical at the same time, drum patterns including double bass, guitar riffs and bass lines I’ve heard in my entire 5 and half years of listening to metal. I mean obviously it’s not as fast as some bands out there but it’s pretty fucking fast, and that’s just how I like it; the double bass blows my mind (Jesus tapdancing Christ check out Dead Man's Diary at about 4 minutes!) and the guitar solos are full of wank and technical nonsense that is purely loveable as well as the bass. I haven’t heard such a powerful bassist in a while, in each song he has a fill or a solo that reminds me of how powerful some bassist can be and how kick ass it can be. Oh yeah, its Steve DiGiorgio, what else should you expect? Stephane Pare is quite a competent vocalist as well, with like I mentioned earlier has some purely jaw-dropping moments and killer passages, as well as being a great lyricist (I think he’s the main lyricist I’m not positive so don’t hold it on me).

So, enough with the raving fanboyism, as you noticed this isn’t a perfect album but pretty damn close. Quo Vadis have crafted the technical death metal sound perfectly and having the perfect fusion of melody something that Arsis has done as well but something Necrophagist has failed to do or wants to do. Despite all of this I will admit while it’s still fucking awesome how all the songs are similar but still equally can get old due to lack of variety within the structuring of the songs. It’s basically a relentless attack of technical melodic death metal that doesn’t often vary itself. Other than the two interlude pieces that are instrumental and well orchestrated, it can still get a bit old after a bit. Other than this, everything on here is exquisite; the musicianship, the songs are so very catchy, and the perfect blend of technical and melodic death metal. After all the time I’ve heard this I’ve only every picked up one other record which is still fun but nothing compares to Defiant Imagination in the technical death metal world other and for that it is highly recommended for those fans or technical death metal, death metal in general, fans of Arsis, and fans of awesome fucking metal.