Deligma - Forever Faded

Deligma
Forever Faded
River City Records/M.G.M. Distribution

Australia has produced some truly world class acts over the years, many of which have emerged from either the east coast or from as far away as the west coast. Surprisingly enough, very few acts from the far south have managed to make their mark on a national level. But one act that has managed to do that is Burnie/Devonport (Tasmania) based outfit Deligma, who have just released their debut E.P. ‘Forever Faded’.
Having spent their early years piecing together a line-up of like minded musicians, Deligma eventually settled on their current formation in 2009 and have spent the better part of the last two years refining their songs and playing alongside a host of local and bigger name acts (Including Dead Letter Circus and ex-Mammal outfit Black Devil Yard Boss) throughout the state.
Having found their sound, the five piece act (Who comprise of vocalist Dylan Smith, guitarist Simon Jeffrey, bassist Damien Gale, keyboardist/sampler/programmer Dave Venter and drummer Guy Jeffrey) entered the studio to record, with renown studio producer/engineer Lachlan Mitchell (The Amenta, Nazxul, Astriaal) called upon to work on the mix, and Ryan Smith (Lamb Of God, Slipknot, Boy Sets Fire) handling the final phase of mastering. Given the impressive production team behind the scenes, my expectations for the band’s debut were fairly high. Needless to say, Deligma have more than managed to produce one impressive debut.
Following along a similar musical direction to that of Dead Letter Circus, Sydonia and Cog, Deligma can be best described as a progressive metal act that combine heavy guitar riffs with huge choruses structures, but with sufficient splashes of keyboards and aggression driven vocals to give the band’s overall sound enough dynamics and variation to keep things interesting, catchy and brutal in all the right measures.
The opening track ‘Goodbye’ starts out with a great upfront guitar riff in the mix alongside some prominent keyboard work, but its Smith’s wide ranging vocal mix of clean, screams and growled efforts that really compliments the song’s ever changing moods and tempos, and ultimately gives the band their killer core component sound.
The fast paced ‘Vendetta’ is up next, and once again it’s Smith’s strong use of melodies against the infectious waves of keyboards and the huge guitar riffs that really gels everything within the song together as a whole, while ‘Misfire’ and ‘Bury My Life’ showcase the band’s ability to delve more into gentle atmospherics in places, without losing any of the flow from the heavier passages that bookend both tracks.
Although the opening clutch of songs were impressive in their own right, it’s the final track ‘Devastation’ where Deligma really deliver the aggression on all fronts, with the song not only standing as the most guitar driven of tracks, but also one that boasts some of Smith’s most vitriolic efforts on the vocal front alongside his huge hook driven choruses.
Part progressive, part nu-metal and part modern metal, Deligma is anything but a one-dimensional band. But if there’s a few things I’m certain of, it’s that there’s plenty of talent within the band, and that if they keep things moving forward, we’ll be hearing plenty more from this band in time to come.

For more information on Deligma, check out - http://www.facebook.com/deligmaofficial.

© Justin Donnelly.