Friday, October 30, 2009

Dusting Off a Cassette Pt. 33: Despair: Beyond All Reason

Despair is another band that is fairly obscure. They formed in the mid 1980's and lasted until the early to mid 1990's. Despair was an early band on Century Media Records, when the company was just starting out and had very few bands on its roster. Nevertheless, Despair is the least well-known of these bands. The band came from Germany and played technical thrash/speed metal, in the vein of groups like Heathen and Believer.

The music is fairly standard and comparable to the above bands. Despair does not really offer anything new, but it is nonetheless an engaging album. It does tend to carry on a little too long, however. The riffs, which at the time were probably somewhat innovative, but now sound a little stale are delivered with effective precision. The drumming is powerful and drive the speed and rhythm of the music. The vocals are fair, late thrash-styled yelling and occasionally out of tune wailing. It's a little tough to get used to, but anyone who listens to 1980's thrash bands (like me, and very much unlike my fiancee) probably would have no problem with them.

All in all, the album is okay, but ultimately forgettable. All of the band members have gone on to record with other bands, none of whom are particularly well-known. There's probably a good reason for that.

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