German Delirious carry the flag of thrash metal high. The band's website entrance shows a logo with text "thrash metal league - Bay Area". Do the band have anything new to offer, or are they just another bunch of slave-like followers of legendary bands?

Delirious indeed do play thrash metal, Bay Area style mixed with influences from their homeland's rich speed/trash scenes. At least that's how their second full length album 'Designed by Violence' sounds like. Sometimes, it is Rage that comes to my mind, and not alone because of Markus "Betty" Bednarek's raspier vocals that heavily bear likeness to Peavy Wagner's voice as well as Xentrix's Chris Astley (also clean ones remind, which aren't very good, but there's not much of this heard). Anyway, Bay Area thrash... 'Psychotic Disarray' is very much like 1990s-modern Testament. Just check out those low growls, that made me think that Chuck Billy was guesting in the studio. The band's repertoire reaches from angry burst such as aforementioned 'Psychotic Disarray', 'Death Voice' and intense 'Quima de Araquivo' to more melodic and at times calmer pieces 'No One' and 'Contra State' that does contain all elements. The viciousness is present in every song (minus instrumental 'Where the Song Has no Name' and spoken track 'Last Words', without these two tracks the album would have been much more coherent) and by the melodiousness I don't mean radio-play style stuff. There's some heavy groove here and there, reminding me of newer Overkill material. I got to mention the guitar solos, that are pretty brain-sticking. One thing I'm a bit dissatisfied with the length of some of the songs; they could have been somewhat squeezed for sure.

The performances are energetic and it can be heard everything come from the hearts of these five guys. Guitarists rip the strings and rhythm section pounds like sledgehammers. The varying vocals are plus. Sound-wise I like this. It's heavy and raw-ish, very crunchy, not overproduced. Reminds some Sodom stuff from 1990s, actually. Computer-generated booklet collage art does suck, the cover not that much. Lyrical themes include dictators, conspiracies, killing, religious madness, war, plus more positive words about future on 'Contra State'.

To answer to the question put forth on the first paragraph: Delirious do have some originality, definitely. Music-wise, there's nothing new on offer, but the band can't be blamed for direct aping. The band possess character. Delirious have composed memorable songs here and what's better, the music is also good enough to stand above gray thrash metal mass. The band have already released their 3rd opus, so I think I'm gonna check it out, too.

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
12/01/2006 15:14