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Defecto

Defecto EP

Written by: PP on 18/04/2012 03:12:17

Here's another Danish band who don't really sound all that Danish in their expression. Defecto hail from the Greater Copenhagen area, but it wouldn't be a surprise to read their biography and discover that the band is actually located in the Germany/Austria/Switzerland region. And that's because their self-titled EP has a very typical heavy/melodic/symphonic metal sound for that particular region. Think of bands signed to AFM Records, Massacre Records, Napalm Records, et cetera. There are virtually thousands of Defectos in those countries alone.

The good news then is that Defecto avoid sounding generic, bland and boring, which tends to be the objective for about 95% of the bands in the aforementioned genres based on my experiences in the past seven years of dealing with such bands. Two forces in particular should be credited: their excellent vocalist, who has exceptionally powerful pipes that give the songs their majestic and grandiose feel, and their lead guitars, who knows how to rip out killer leads. The main riff on "Drifting Into Blackness" is something any symphonic metal would feel proud to call their own.

On top of that, their synth-driven symphonies are tastefully left to the background, never becoming a dominant part of the expression which is often a problem with especially gothic metal bands. They are merely used as supporting cast for the great instrumentation and vocals otherwise, to provide the ambiance and atmospherics needed to really make their sound epic. This is a relief, because bands often have a tendency to overplay the symphonies to the extent of choking out their other strengths.

Should Defecto continue to keep their sound at such a delicate balance, they'll likely earn themselves a recording contract with one of the labels mentioned in this review. I mean the German audiences lap up this sort of material left and right. Whether they'll be able to convince the local, more death/brutal metal oriented crowd here in Denmark is doubtful, but that's merely a small obstacle on a path to something better and bigger.

Download: Excluded, Desperate Addict, Drifting Into Blackness
For the fans of: Massacre & Napalm Records rosters
Listen: Soundcloud

Release date 03.10.2011
Self-Released