Deny Reality

“…the dreamer doesn't stand a chance…”

The debut ep from this relatively uncharted UK quartet continues thrash’s blight that was far from colorful or eye-opening, the style’s axis on its original course for too long for it to exhilarate like it had, and unfortunately was indicative to the stagnate stride the seven or so year style was enduring. Yeah, most of the bloom may have abandoned the boom, but some bits of excitement are here, though rather thinly sliced.

Deny Reality features five tracks that are mildly technical, strikingly intense at lonely ensured angles, conventional from more than a few standpoints, and ruefully hint of slapstick that isn’t undone by the juvenile album art that barely references the title. In a nutshell, the aural mindset is post-debut Sacred Reich, some Acid Reign and Tankard, and Interstellar Experience-era Assassin, none of which recall much twinkle-eyed adoration from me, but hey they’re not horrible either.

What we have here is pretty routine, though cursory shafts of intensity burn through the habitual scheme, fleetingly setting things ablaze at the rumbling start of the curtain-opening title cut, the high road moments of “Fatal Descent”, and portions of the party-ish “D.U.A.F.”, but that’s about it – thick as a wafer and not really worth the price of one. “Follow the Masses” is mediocre Testament with blinders on while “Re-animator” is worse yet, long and listless with a chorus that needs acid to spice it up. Vocalist/guitarist Kev Ingleson isn’t as vapid as, say, Rodney Dunsmore over in Devastation, but he’s definitely not setting the world on fire with his standardized monotone scratch.

Positively, the production via some unmentioned studio is full and vital, and that’s all, folks.

I have Condemned to Eternity somewhere, probably on cassette and too in the back of my closet for me to wrestle to any time soon, so when and if I’m searching for a more important tape, maybe I’ll take the time to find my ‘R’ case.