Illidiance - Deformity (2013)^{Release ID: 28052}

I wasn't planning on reviewing Illidiance's EPs, but I decided to just go with this one, Deformity. After loving this one at first, the interest ended up dropping pretty fast. It's a continuation of the band's groove-ish industrial/cyber metal sound that began with Damage Theory, yet it sounds a bit, well, deformed. It's clear here that they were trying so hard to modernize their sound, and it ends up falling apart a bit. Even their Shade Empire-ish symphonic black metal past wasn't that faulty...

See, if this ends up being The Kovenant's sound in the unreleased Aria Galactica, I would be confused as h*ll. Illidiance's mainstream side is a little too mainstream, when they're expected to have their Fear Factory/Scar Symmetry sound with the clean/harsh vocal mix done by the Shkurin brothers.

The opening title track is an awesome start, exemplifying their true sound. "Boiling Point" is another highlight with all that made Damage Theory perfect. "Urbanized" brings forward the band's Fear Factory influences and some 8-bit synths of Enter Shikari, but comes out unbalanced. "Let It Bleed" is one more track I enjoy, with what Neurotech was having at the time. The pointless ballad "Moments of the Fall" sounds too hollow with its synth-focused approach and is easily the worst track they've ever done.

Just tracks 1, 2, and 4 would be fine for Deformity. The other two are too unbalanced and are better off left in the dust. They knew what they were doing with this short EP, things just needed to be better executed. They would make up for those errors with another full album later that decade....

Favorites: "Deformity", "Boiling Point", "Let It Bleed"