13th December 2024

Review: “Deviate” by Shatterface

13 months after their debut EP “Anodize” re-animated the rusting Industrial Metal machinery of demos spanning the past twenty plus years in the vaults and archives of Shatterface, the Australians have returned with a sophomore record. Said to move away from the themes of mental struggles of self-loathing of their debut and instead orientate around round fear, disbelief and rage, this second quartet of tracks is a fresh journey into an apocalyptic wasteland…

It’s clear from the start of “Aftermath” that the band have indeed taken a step away from what they offered from what they created with “Anodize“. The mechanised and yet raw and around the edges sound finding them hammering home a cold, dark science fiction themed cut with hints at inspirations in Fear Factory in the process. There are few moments where the guitars drop out between chugged riff patterns that feel a little jarring initially, they stop being so after a couple of spins with the lyrics dawning you in. What follows is “Amplify“, a song which began life almost twenty years ago as vocalist Rob King expresses both sides of the coin of experiencing an irreversible tragedy. Sonically the track has been painstakingly rebuilt from the ground up with the raw energy of the original demo the draw to do so. It feels like being transported back to the 90’s like Jean-Claude Van Damme in Timecop with so may of era elements brought into play that it has that nostalgic quality. What has been brought kicking and screaming up to date is the guitar sound, which makes for a solid formula and the same can be said of “Depreciate“. Monotone vocal moments give a cult prayer feel in a mechanised style between the harsher ones, the solo on this one helping it stand out from the pack in fine style. Orchestrations chemically enhance “Dominate” as the riffs pulverise, the lyrical narrative about the need to cleans the sands and purge the lands having that scream-a-long appeal. The synths are as cold as ice and while the DIY or DIE mentality and storytelling are fantastic but you can’t help but feel that the band could befit from a some polish from an external producer to tighten this up [7/10]

Track Listing