Deficiency is back after five years.
Created in France in 2004 under the name of Black Age, the band changes its name in 2008. In 2022, Laurent Gisonna (vocals/guitar), Vianney Habert (bass), Jérôme Meichelbeck (guitar) and Benjamin Jaksch (drums) announce Warenta, their fourth album, at Metal East Productions.
The album begins with Warenta, the eponymous track, which places a worrying dissonance before unleashing fast-paced Thrash riffs while including aggressive melodies and raw vocal parts. The sound also offers some softer parts, then Dichotomy floods us with heady harmonics while the solid rhythmic will make us nod. More modern influences are melted to technicality, then I Am The Misfortune Herald comes next to unveil oppressive sonorities. The voice of Bjorn “Speed” Strid (Soilwork, The Night Flight Orchestra…) adds a part of quietness to violence as much as it feeds the song’s ferocity, also offering some Prog elements, while The Black Book crushes us with its obvious melancholy. To be honest, I was surprised by the intensity of some parts, unveiling very modern tones just like The Feathers and its Metalcore influences, above all on clean vocals, but also Lumpendoktor, where the band welcomes Davish G. Álvarez (Angelus Apatrida) for an epic intensity. Some majestic samples come to complete the riffs’ aggression, which drives us to Ludma and its hooking groove. The song will please to a large audience while being still powerful and accessible, while A Fire Asleep will throw us into Thrash Metal’s Old School roots. Whether riffs sound a quite modern, vocals offer an interesting diversity, before Alleviate the Suffering goes back to the rawest influences to serve an aggressive sound. Obviously, the band’s hooking modernity will join the effective groove, which will end with Real Is Revealed, the bonus track which makes us understand the band also picks into Thrash/Death. Unsurprisingly, violence will be mandatory on this effective track which will be appreciated by rage amateurs.
I never heard about Deficiency until now. However, Warenta isn’t their first release, and it’s an extremely effective one! Between Old School Thrash Metal and melodic Death/Thrash influences, the band knows how to captivate its audience, and appears as the scene’s spearhead.
85/100