It’s time for Miscreance to return to violence.
Now signed to Season of Mist, the Italian band known from 2013 to 2018 as Atomic Massacre and now consisting of Andrea Feltrin (drums/vocals, Re-Animated), Andrea Granauro (guitar, Sofisticator), Tommaso Cappelletti (drums), and Jean Claude Rossignol (bass, Re-Animated), is releasing its second album, Reminiscence.
Trait d’Union opens the album with a touch that is, to say the least, original and unexpected, hinting at a distant prog influence before the return of distortion and more pronounced, energetic Death/Thrash roots, briefly interrupted by a sampled vocal followed by the style’s characteristic growls. The track is quite catchy, showcasing the band’s complex and polished approach, whether in the harmonics or the transition to clean vocals and the unsettling final leads us into Vision, the next track, which already feels a bit more traditional, offering a furious Old School vibe right off the bat, though the band doesn’t fail to add its own original touch with breaks and theatrical vocals; then Scalp Ceremony delivers another acceleration that will delight fans of piercing harmonics. Violence rages through this track, effortlessly prompting us to headbang, just as the musicians know how to do even live, and while the addition of percussion may come as a surprise, it remains fairly consistent before giving way to Synaptic Cortex Dissection, which is rooted in dissonance while adding much softer and truly unexpected tones. The rest of the track maintains an extremely jagged approach, just like on Oracle’s Rift, which features retro-futuristic vocal effects reminiscent of a legendary band’s obvious influence perfectly complementing the chaotic riffing before a melancholic final solo, followed by more percussion, then The Moaning Hill, where the band starts off at a brisk pace, then lets the leads slow down considerably before picking up speed again. The vocals are almost plaintive, but the track is fairly short, and it lends Symbiosis a similar atmosphere while playing with spellbinding and, once again, totally unexpected tones that lean more toward prog sounds. The band follows up with Zenith of a Dying Sun, starting off fairly slowly and allowing themselves to venture into other realms, whether in leads or rhythm section, and then the album concludes with Mirage, which offers a rather unsettling and almost entirely instrumental sound, letting the musicians let loose one last time.
I discovered Miscreance live a bit earlier this year, and to say the least, this band knows how to play! On Reminiscence, I find that same organized chaos they unleashed in Paris, and I know that Thrash fans are going to love it!
75/100