Derealized are a fairly new band from France and Isolation Poetry is their debut album. Playing a style that is a mix of technical blackened death the band featuring members of Ignis Fatuus, Redeeming Torture and Diluvian are a trio of musicians who certainly know how to play in a fast and tight fashion and take no prisoners as they fire everything up in the speed department. They also have a secret weapon in the shape of front-woman of Myriam Fischer who has one hell of a beastly voice and rasps and roars away like she has been possessed by the devil himself. This is one where you really need to press play, hang onto your hats and be prepared for poetry of the most abrasive kind through its 53 minute exorcism.
That’s a kind of apt description too considering the 1st track is called ‘Devil’s Got Green Eyes’ and after a brooding start it gets its chops on and goes right for the throat with a chaotic melange of bruising drums, chugging riffs and those humongous vocal growls and rasps. The underlying guitar work at full speed is where the technicality comes through and it’s obvious that this lot can play well at a rapid speed. There are the odd atmospheric breaks here which add depth to the music but one thing that becomes quickly apparent is the lack of vocal diversity. Myriam has her style nailed but sticks to it rigidly, perhaps a bit of cleaner singing would help here (and that’s not something I say that often) but after several songs I find this is somewhat lacking in flavour. ‘The Opium Den’ does not sound like the sort of place our poets find themselves nodding off and dreaming up sensitive verse in but more like a crack den as the musicians jam away with fast flurrying guitar riffs and those ‘demon on the back’ vocals. I guess if you are looking for real poeticism within this it would be countrymen Baudelaire mixed with a soundtrack that would give the likes of Necrophagiast, Psycroptic and Aborted a run for their money here. I have to admit I am finding this a bit heavy-going especially when they fatten a song like this out with excessive soloing to a 9 minute running time. It just doesn’t even have immediacy on its side and listening to this over the course of quite a few spins I have found myself drifting off with nothing really sticking in my mind and it’s all forgotten as soon as it is over.
So this one is definitely a mixed bag for me. Although I can appreciate what Derealized are doing they have pretty much done it all in just a couple of tracks leaving me with an album that is just too samey to get totally enthused about. Being a debut this is one of those albums where it’s easy to say early days yet and they could develop things and make it all the more interesting in the future but I have a feeling this will go down well with a target audience and they will pretty much stick to their guns and carry on down this route. Still if you are looking for an extreme head-spinning experience and one that is well played and savage you will certainly find it here.
(6/10 Pete Woods)
Leave a Reply