True to Form

Another pleasant surprise from the 90’s, a typical product of its time, only executed with more vision and proficiency. In other words, we have another addition to the not very voluminous 90s’ technical thrash roster, joining other out-of-the-box thinkers like Aleister, Aftermath and Tefilla. Like the latter act, these guys were late comers on the field, and nearly missed the groovy/post-thrashy train, but I guess this was also the reason why they decided to give it a more twisted rendition in order to make a more lasting impression at the end of the 90’s vogues’ dictatorship.

The album reviewed here is one of the last outcries of the movement that marked a whole decade, for better or worse, and remains one of its finer achievements. With the tools of the trade of said movement long since established, one can’t look for something too ground-breaking, but few will remain indifferent to the serpentine Coroner-esque riffs of "Determined” which is “determined” to bemuse the listener also with several gorgeous melodic embellishments; an absolute marvel to listen to, the groovy leaps and bounds only adding to its otherworldly charm. Such surprisingly exuberant musicianship is not exactly encountered later (save the best for first), but “Mental Wall” has enough intriguing chops and busy riff applications to make anyone’s head turn, and “Turned to Rage” is a nice twisting and turning shredder finding the perfect balance between grooves and more technical escapades. At this stage the delivery is jolty and mid-tempo, but comes “Face of Stone” and fast-paced rifforamas fill in the aether with melodic pirouettes circling around them, not leaving much room for the groovy background to leaden the environment.

“No Deception” goes a notch up the technicality scale the band really pulling it off with outstanding virtuoso performance, the intricate decisions bonding well with the incessant speedy crescendos. “Dissolution” nearly reaches death metal-ish dimensions, but before things get out of control come the obligatory melodic dashes and a superb psychedelic passage ala Coroner’s “Grin” which finely spaces out the proceedings also recalling the mentioned Aftermath’s masterpiece “Eyes of Tomorrow”. Things remain on a high pedestal on “Victim of Misery”, an exemplary progressive opus with heavy hypnotic riffage which doesn’t change much throughout, but creates a monolithic miasmic landscape where the groove finally has the floor on a couple of more linear passages.

The vocalist delivers with a consistent, not very frequently shifting, semi-shouty baritone reminding of Ron Royce (Coroner again), only higher-pitched and a tad more attached. The dominant heavy approach doesn’t wear out, and the steady supply of melody and speed makes this offering a fairly diverse listen, more volatile and flexible than Tefilla’s “Grievous Anguish”, but not as complex and visionary as the Aftermath opus. There are times when the orthodox groovisms occupy more space and kind of threaten to turn the more technical strokes into mere sparkles of genius, but the band always turn things around and never let the stylish arrangements out of sight.

Alas, they did, eventually, on the EP that followed which was a U-turn towards ordinary, pedestrian groovy post-thrash/post-death the material sounding like a washed-down copy of Massacra’s “Sick” “shagging” with poor man’s Prong’s “Beg to Duffer”, with spastic leftovers from “Grin” trying to provide the needed “coitus interruptus”. In other words, there were a few flashes of brilliance to be come across, but their presence would make one even sadder since there was absolutely no need in such less ordinary additives to such a listless, sloppy recording. The form was brought back to its regular shape as a finishing touch to the band’s career; to repel the true and delight the infidels.