Denfire – Collective Insanity

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Denfire returns with a second self-made EP. This guy has spent many years in metal bands in Brazil and the UK before he split off to do his own thing. And this is what we get. “Lone Wolf” makes for a sudden brooding entrance to this little EP. Cut throat drum beats leave little breathing room for any light to shine through the darkness that looms over the production. The song does eventually calm down a little but Denfire’s vocal style leaves a lot to be desired if I’m totally honest. There’s some impressive guitar work particularly in the solos and the brief melodic break in the middle but nothing that I’d really want to come back for.

“Awakening” is a bit more pleasant from the start. It’s at a speed that I can keep up with but the production still manages to cloud the whole sound unfortunately. The little guitar melodies that are scattered around in this song just feel like a beginner’s guitar exercises, but Denfire clearly has skills which he demonstrates to us in his face-melting solos so I don’t know why he didn’t develop the melodies themselves a little more. Bit of a shame really. Finally, the title track of this little EP begins with a catchy and fairly memorable guitar harmony. After a nice little intro, the blast beats return again and ruin everything. The bass guitar is almost audible but nowhere near as prominent as it should be.

For such an experienced musician, I was surprised by the low quality of the song writing from Denfire. Maybe it’s just my poor tastes, and please feel free to disagree with everything I’ve said in this review, but I just did not enjoy this EP. From the unenthusiastic vocals to the irritating blast beats, it was a shambles from start to finish. Hope for better next time.

Songwriting: 5
Musicianship: 6
Memorability: 4
Production: 6