Vespers Descent - Reality Dysfunction (CD)

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Is this a preceding step to VESPER DESCENT's further career? The Aussies released the Three Faces Of Eve EP in 2003, then to unleash their debut album, Visions In Verse, during 2005. Winning a good portion on fans with this one, many were really waiting for a soon-to-hit sophomore full-length. Instead of this, we now get the Reality Dysfunction EP and - as far as I can listen to, not being a real fan of this sound - VESPER DESCENT has the potential to (surely) keep their fan base plus attract the attention of even more…
…melodic Death Metal followers. OK, this term's not that precise in our days, but who'd add more terminology in an already full-packed genre? In the case of VESPER DESCENT we should not do injustice to the band, just mentioning their Swedish/Gothenburg influences. OK, elements from this blend are there: the harmonies, some vocal distortions, enough of dual leads and you get the picture. Still, I'd not escape but saying the band's also kinda subjective to the legacy of some US Death Metal (no 'grind' parts, I'd add - mainly the 'Florida' side) plus a portion of CARCASS' beliefs. The songs structure, a good portion of the complexity of the riffing, slices of Prog Thrash/Death vibes…
…all these resulting in an album similar to the 'melodic Death' glamour of Visions In Verse (fans of ARCH ENEMY, DARK TRANQUILITY and CHILDREN OF BODOM check it out), but not only. One thing is the US blend added plus some more weird tempos may even bring 'atmospheric Metal' icons to mind. The band itself has a tighter attitude in performing here: the sound is thick as hell, the playing is rough and speed is all over (powerful fast parts at the most).
Spectral Awakening starts off in a 'schizo' intro until some guitar-driven 'melodic' Death(?) Metal burst off in more extreme vocals by Richard Clements, Reality Dysfunction's initial blastbeats soon are transformed to some groovy CARCASS-related themes with US Death Metal riffing, Deceiver has the most diverse (in songwriting base, omit the lead parts and vocals) songparts of the EP (nice 'prog' drumming, too!), Cryptic Visions hails back from Sweden and the AT THE GATES take of Blinded By Fear is a good tribute to the extreme Metal masters. Eclipse, not to forget, acts like a nice outro in its 'acoustic guitars' mode. A rather esoteric song…
VESPERS DESCENT has grown up to be more technical (hence, the 'US' references from time to time) while the band's baseline has remained 'melodic Death'. In an updated lineup (Grant Burns is the only founding member still in the band, I think) it's not difficult to conclude VESPERS DESCENT's new EP will satisfy your needs if your requirements meet the above-mentioned facts. A good release by a band that keeps becoming better and better in each release. A full-length attack devotees of the specific blend should now await.
P.S.: In their 2005 release VESPER DESCENT did include a cover version of CARCASS' This Mortal Coil.