Desdinova - Defying Gravity (2014)

Hailing from Eastern France, today we have Sci-Fi influenced Desdinova and their debut full-length titled “Defying Gravity”. Featuring an intense mix of Thrash Metal with Progressive elements, this is one release that brings memories from bands like old Metallica to more recent Progressive Metal releases. Crafting a unique style is hard, but Desdinova gives us a very promising showing of their ambitious music.

The band starts off with very Metallica-esque songs with “Solanum” and “The Valley”. Things shift a bit more into playful territory with “The Valley”, before going very progressive with the soothing “Seven”. In just four songs the band quickly shows their range of abilities by crafting some ultra-catchy tunes that help Desdinova construct their own musical style. Filled with solid drumming and very charismatic vocals, this release has tons of elements to be discovered by the listeners. Going a bit more mainstream with “Sunbreaker”, the band keeps surprising us with their wide range of styles; however everything returns to their traditional Thrash roots in “Rules of Engagement”.

With extreme Metallica-worship, “Faster Than Light” has a very familiar chorus line, however the track is super epic and the best of this amazing release. Another standout track in this release is the Progressive “Bloodstone”, a song that shows considerable more maturity and diversity than the first few songs in the release. Here we are treated some cool guitar acrobatics and a more refined song structure, leading us to believe that these last few songs (which are some of the best in the album) were composed at a later stage, thus showing more quality and experience.

As the album closes with “Across the Ages”, we are left with a great impression on how the band evolved throughout the release. We have some very direct and less complex songs to start, and then Desdinova seems to warm up and deliver a very intricate and powerful performance to close the album. If you like Thrash Metal with a Melodic/Progressive edge to it, and some Metallica-esque vocals and elements here and there, look no further and get yourself a copy of “Defying Gravity”.

Label: Self-Released

Release: January 24th, 2014

Genre: Thrash / Progressive Metal

Country: France