Review: “Senses Part Two” EP by Derange

Splitting a full length album into two EPs and releasing them six months apart has worked very well for London Alternative Metallers Derange. It’s kept the spotlight firmly on the quintet, which is exactly where it should be, given their undoubted talents. They came to the fore in 2015 with “The Awakening” and haven’t looked back since, also gaining attention for the serious effort that they put into their music videos, creating a true audio visual experience.

Opening cut “The Hunted” was included as an exclusive track on a compilation of Derange material appearing on the cover of Metal Hammer Magazine to coincide with “Senses Part One“, so for some it won’t be a new song but it remains a fine piece of work. Crossing subgenres with death defying leaps within the confines of a single track is something that Derange do with masterful skill. In this cut for example there is an Alternative Rock song melody, some Dillinger Escape Plan esq riffs and then a one off breakdown section with some savagely good uncleans from Cat Pereira that belong to something a couple of steps heavier. That sets the tone for the DJent infused riff of the Tech-Metal “Forgotten“, the kind of material that should inspire any aspiring musician in the genre. Pereira delivers both beautiful soaring clean vocals and throat shredding uncleans effortlessly on this stand out cut and when they are crossed over in the mix so that one backs the other, they’ve stuck gold. The riffs are brilliantly executed and fiercely addictive and there has been thought to cohesion as they blend seamlessly into “We Are“. The bass heavy pounding rhythms echo bands like Mudvayne from the past while taking a leaf of the Periphery playbook with some bright progressive moments as both aggressive abrasion and beautiful calm are played off to create another killer cut.

“Falling Awake” has some influence from TesseracT in some of its spacy moments between verses with some slower chord progressions mixing up the tempo to fine effect. Matching off the emotional element of the story behind the lyrics with swirling moods of more ambient progressive sounds before a brutal roar and heavier finish is sublime. Building atmosphere with a sense of a broken relationship “Take It All” has that emotive quality that allows the band to show their ability to write a more progressive cut that still has that Alternative Rock sing-a-long quality, delivered by an anthemic “Whoa” segment and a solo of Arena filling proportions that could get any crowd going. Derange are in their song writing element with “Senses” as a whole, their dedication to their craft has paid off with a second sublime release [8/10]

Track listing

1. The Hunted
2. Forgotten
3. We Are
4. Falling Awake
5. Take It All

“Senses Part Two” by Derange is out now