Defyance
Reincarnation
Minotauro Records
2015
Defyance is an American out of Iowa, who have been existed since the early 90s and were quite active up until a couple of years into the millennium, only to see them taking an almost thirteen year hiatus as far as studio works would be concerned. Their chosen style is a lyrical power metal, with a strong sense of melody and a few hard rock hints. You can call it yesteryear melodic metal if you wish.
They have managed a clean, if not old school sounding mix and overall production that is however quite treble, the bass is really almost completely absent in terms of “frequencies”, which is a bit annoying up to a point, which is a shame really, because otherwise, “Re-incarnation” is pretty decent when it comes to the songwriting. Songs like “High Ground”, “Rangers Lead the Way”, “Deeds Not Words” and “From the Ashes” sound pretty cool, with the rest of the songs not lagging too far behind, but in most cases having some other chip on their shoulder other than the average production. For instance, the ballad “Loved Honor More” being quite plain or the final proper song “Against You” being too preachy, even if it’s rather enjoyable. There’s also a demo of an original “Passing of the Night”, sounding not much different, if not a bit more melodic, but more “fuzzy” production/mix wise and two cover, on Fifth Angel’s “Wings of Destiny” and Riot’s “Sign of the Crimson Storm”, which are not bad, but then again are not as exciting as the originals. Fair, I’d say.
Overall a fair and decent release, but there’s a bit to be desired, especially sound wise. Should be interesting to see, what they could come up with, if they stick together, this time around.
They have managed a clean, if not old school sounding mix and overall production that is however quite treble, the bass is really almost completely absent in terms of “frequencies”, which is a bit annoying up to a point, which is a shame really, because otherwise, “Re-incarnation” is pretty decent when it comes to the songwriting. Songs like “High Ground”, “Rangers Lead the Way”, “Deeds Not Words” and “From the Ashes” sound pretty cool, with the rest of the songs not lagging too far behind, but in most cases having some other chip on their shoulder other than the average production. For instance, the ballad “Loved Honor More” being quite plain or the final proper song “Against You” being too preachy, even if it’s rather enjoyable. There’s also a demo of an original “Passing of the Night”, sounding not much different, if not a bit more melodic, but more “fuzzy” production/mix wise and two cover, on Fifth Angel’s “Wings of Destiny” and Riot’s “Sign of the Crimson Storm”, which are not bad, but then again are not as exciting as the originals. Fair, I’d say.
Overall a fair and decent release, but there’s a bit to be desired, especially sound wise. Should be interesting to see, what they could come up with, if they stick together, this time around.