Truth Decayed – Faded Visions II EP
Truth Decayed – Faded Visions II EP
Self-Released
Release Date: 07/07/23
Running Time: 16:49
Review by Simon Black
7/10
South Africa’s Truth Decayed are like many new and younger acts taking a different approach with their release momentum building. What I am talking about is the recent trend since lockdown for acts to release a series of EP’s on a much more regular basis, rather than the traditional longer album cycle. Personally, I think this is a good thing. Vinyl had a limit on just how much run time you could squeeze onto a piece of plastic without compromising sound quality, and albums doubled in length as soon as the Compact Disk became the norm. Now with digital formats removing time restrictions entirely we have seen bands taking their time to express themselves in full in the early part of the century… although whether they were doing it well is another matter.
The challenge for this decade is the attention span of the listener, which does not seem to easily be able to latch on to long and expansive run times. There is another aspect, and that’s cost. It’s clearly way cheaper to go and record 15 minutes of run time once a year rather than forcing yourselves to drag out the good ideas beyond their capabilities in order to fulfil the expectations as to how long a full album should be (plus they’re a cheaper merch option at gigs). And that’s the key, because when you are coming back once a year when you genuinely have something to say makes for a better, punchier experience for the listener and usually means that the ratio of hitter to filler is much more positive.
For all of these reasons, for their third EP, Truth Decayed have once again scored well and truly into the back of the net. The line up has changed slightly since last year’s part 1, but the power, energy and focus of this act has not. Thrash has never been a genre to drag things out, but they don’t choose speed for the sake of it and know how to craft a song whose run times all feel just about right. ‘A Separate Reality’ thumps and thunders its way into your face, in exactly the way you want Thrash to do, with Ryno Theron’s snarling and powerful vocal delivery taking no prisoners. Part 1 had an overt technical edge to its material, but this follow-up opts for sheer bruising brutality first and foremost and works all the better for it. Add to this some much improved production values, and this feels like a band who are really finding their own sound rather than relying on nods to the obvious influences such as Slayer, as we had in the past. It’s fast, it’s powerful, it’s uncompromising, and it’s pretty bloody fun.
‘Death By Design’ Official Lyric Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. A Separate Reality
02. Death By Design
03. Vicious Circles
04. Narcissist
LINE-UP:
Ryno Theron – Guitar & Vocals
Warren Jones – Guitar
Renz Kruger – Bass
Daniel Philogene – Drums
LINKS:
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