Depressive Reality - Las Sombras

Rating: 7.5

Country: Czech Republic

Release Date: 2007

Track list:
1. It Is Too Late
2. (Paranioc) Fear (1st Version)
3. Margha Fonebre
4. A Poison 6Tree (poetry Of William Blake)
5. Song For Dead
6. Insomnia
7. I Don't Feel Well
8. After The Storm
9. (Paranioc) Fear (2nd Version)
10. Picture Of A Lost Soul
11. Brain Aliens
12. Boneyard (Impetigo Cover)

Total playing time 43:26

Band Website: Depressive Reality

Depressive Reality - Las Sombras

Jana - Vocals
Smash - Guitar
Tatch - Bass
Slavek - Drums

Now here's a band from Czech Republic, a country that is on the cutting edge of extreme metal innovation, playing death metal in a style so rudimentary and rusty that it will first make you laugh and then scratch your skin out in a fit of excitement and eagerness to comply with the music. Familiar with their debut full length, Growling Death, their new one in comparison is infinitely cooler because of its bold anti-trendy ultra-magnified coarseness. The songs are simpler but more effective, written with the purpose of making them catchier and more headbangable, and while they are sure to lure you to jump into the moshpit, in there you will find people peeling each others skin off in rabid frenzy instead of the gay brutal chest-thumping that normally takes place in there these days. Just imagine the beautiful sight.

Depressive Reality seem influenced by old recordings of Sepultura, Massacre, Master and last but not the least, Six Feet Under. However, instead of using them in the same traditional context, Depressive Reality have dismantled their entire song structure and reconstructed it in their own specific way, emphasising certain aspects of it to suit their unique appeal and eschewing the rest, thus amalgamating the influences and making them somewhat ambiguous. With a ponderous lurching mid-paced movement the band steamrolls every damn thing and its proud owner in its way - imperfectly, because of the uneven, nearly serrated edge of its main instrument. And that they do with quite a lot of lazy (read: stylish) enthusiasm, as a result of which they lend to those parts a springy bounce not too unlike the slowish pornogrooves of German acts such as Dead, Mucupurulent and Cock and Ball Torture. Otherwise they often adopt an upbeat galloping pace, and also possess a fair idea of when to revel in the slower conventional old school parts. Even with that as the motif, not all songs sound too similar to each other. The difference becomes more obvious after the solid first half, for instance: “Song for Dead”, a fine song with its slow, dark and slightly experimental riffing is reminiscent of Bloodthirst/Gallery of Suicide era Cannibal Corpse; “I Don't Feel Well” is a chuggy song that brings to mind Machine Head of all bands; “After the Storm” happens be a mellow and pleasant instrumental track, after which there lies a second version of “Paranoic Fear” that is done in a more conventional old school spirit; then the following song “Picture of a Lost Soul” features beautiful wistful harmonies (they should explore this side of theirs); and finally an Impetigo cover (no prizes for guessing the song) that is suddenly interesting when done with their kind of ultra-crude old school death metal aesthetic.

The highlight of Las Sombras is easily the performance of their female vocalist Jana. It's not her vocal range; it's her inexplicably crude voice and spiteful delivery that damages your ears beyond repair. Jana's voice sounds closest to that of Chris Barnes (non-guttural) mingled with Barney Greenway, and feels like someone as powerful and unavoidable as your mother (at least during your growing up days) cleaning your ears with sandpaper rolled on a matchstick, which is neatly replaced after the end of each song because of it then being soaked in blood. Just listen to the song “Marcha Fonebre” where her enunciations of the lyrics in a language other than English (not the case with the rest of the album though) will easily convince you of her awesome vocal talent. The other highlight or second most redeemable factor of this album has to be the production which is so wonderfully raw it hurts. Think of Dismember's grating guitar tone as being more bloated and gravellish. Riffs played in that tone feel like wholly rusted iron poles swinging randomly towards you: it's only a matter of time before you are hit and get happily injured, and while in the supine pose welcome further blows with open broken septic arms.

If you're looking for slick technicality, fuck off. This is old school death metal that is far from charming, one that wouldn't appeal to the evil-minded fans either. This is unorthodox old school death metal reconstructed with emphasis on catchiness and with not much of a structure – more like chunky riffs loosely connected to each other with thick rickety steel chains, and with a level of rawness that is simply ineffable. It compels this critic to overlook the flaws that exist in this old-fashioned release in favour of its sheer radical coolness. Buy Las Sombras just for that.

June 6th, 2008