Reality Grey
Darkest Days Are Yet To Come
6
Synopsis:
A solid full-length demo from an Italian band that’s about 5 years too late to the melodic death metal party.
Review:
I can’t fault Reality Grey’s skill or energy, just their timing. Their eight-song demo is well written, well played and decently produced with all the requisite trappings of an early Dark Tranquility/In Flames/Ebony Tears/Sacrilege homage, replete with solos, dual hooks and licks, high pitched rasps, cantering, galloping melodies and a slightly thrashing extreme edge, but as a whole, it just doesn’t do quite enough to warrant too much excitement in a genre that saw its heyday many years ago.
The eight songs are all, for a demo, moderately tightly executed and littered with razor sharp riffs and double bass expulsions, but they all lack that certain ‘it’ factor that makes great songs and great albums. They give it a commendable go with “A Cold Winter”, and the up-tempo “My Hell”, but never just quite get over the hump of mediocrity that makes a young bands a hot band. There’s definitely potential though, if the genre sticks around and this five-piece never succumbs to some of the easier clichés such as ballads or acoustic interludes or even hokey synths. This is all pretty straightforward, mildly aggressive stuff with honest delivery and enthusiasm for the genre, despite its shortcomings.
The sudden appearance of deep death growls for “Screaming Out” and “F.U” (and gang chants) are a bit misplaced and show a band trying a bit too hard, as they should stick to their Gothenburg worship and be glad there is still a lukewarm interest in the genre’s more underground purveyors (Detonation, Underthreat, Arsis,etc) as the elite seem to fade and modernize. So there is still hope yet…
