DENY THE FALLEN - SYMPTOMS OF ETERNITY (NEW-CD, 2020) Oz Fox / Rey Parra Sacred Warrior
- Rey Perra / Sacred Warrior on Vocals
- 2020 Retroactive Recods
SYMTOMS OF ETERNITY is the debut album by Kentucky’s Deny the Fallen, which features Chicago’s Rey Parra on vocals. Parra is known for his work with Sacred Warrior and Worldview, but Deny the Fallen is a different animal.
Deny the Fallen play power/groove metal with a lot of heavy start-stop riffin’ a la Pantera and nu-metal. Of course, this isn’t a new style seeing as how it’s been around for over twenty years, but Deny the Fallen make it sound fresh and ‘hip’ (or whatever the term is these days). Think Warrel Dane’s solo stuff, but more kinetic & catchy and less melancholic.
The album is consistent in quality from beginning to end, but my two favorite cuts are “Symptoms of Eternity” with its quirky up-strum high chord and the ominous “Murder Machine,” which mixes nu-metal and death metal riffing. “Hands for War” meshes discordant parts with melodic sections reminiscent of Geoff Tate’s experimental stuff with Queensryche, along with a touch of the Cranberries’ “Zombie” for good measure.
This is a very heavy album, make no mistake, but the band wisely throws in a lot of eccentric elements to keep things interesting and hooky.
There are eleven tracks clocking-in at a streamlined 46.5 minutes.
ABOUT THE ALBUM
Deny the Fallen is the new band featuring Rey Parra of Sacred Warrior, and more recently, Worldview fame. Also featured in this lineup is another Sacred Warrior alumni, Jonathan Johnson, with this marking their first time collaborating since 1991's Obsession release. Joining them for this release is Josh Johnson (drums), Harbor Horton (Rhythm guitars), and Erik Kyr (bassist). What we have here is a really heavy, hard rocking album. We are talking full-speed ahead power and crunch with progressive touches throughout. It is deep, aggressive and angry sounding metal with a message. The vocals from Rey are octaves deeper than normal with more grit and gravel sounding power, with the occasional added second growl vocals here and there. Musically the album is filled with heavy riffs, shredding leads, and a totally kicking rhythm section to hold it all together. The 2020 Retroactive Records release is an eight-page insert packaged in a jewel case.
Tracks
1. Oblivion
2. Mortem Amici (Friendship Dies)
3. Hands For War (Featuring OZ FOX from Stryper)
4. Symptoms Of Eternity
5. Predator
6. Murder Machine
7. Razin' Kane
8. Shelter
9. Rise
10. Burning The World (feat BRUCE SWIFT from Sacred Warrior)
11. Death Rattle