By DJ Monk

Artwork for Condemned To Repeat, the split EP by Deference and VanityTwo of the rising stars of their respective sub-genres, metalcore upstarts Vanity and progressionists Deference have taken a slightly different approach to the concept of the split EP with this new collaboration. Rather than merely “splitting” the release in half, or following that other tried-and-tested (but not always successful) route of covering each other’s material, they have opted for a full-scale… well… collaboration, with two members from each band actually performing on the other’s contributions.

So, first up we have Deference and their two offerings, both of which feature Vanity co-vocalists Kerrie Alexander and Ryan Stevens. ‘Sin’ and ‘Burial’ very much see a more progressive twist added to the traditional metalcore mien, with more emphasis on the technical side of the performances than the more in-your-face of the second half of the release. The hardcore-edged vocals do threaten to drown out the ability of the musicians, which is a fault I find with many bands operating within this particular musical mien, where the actual instrumentation is buried in the mix at the expense of emphasizing the needless screaming of whoever is in charge of the microphone.

Vanity’s “half” of the EP sees them joined by Deference vocalist Rob Lea and guitarist Matt Dennison. Now, while the London quintet in charge of this latter section are better known for their metalcore sound, both ‘Humane’ (the current single from the collaboration) and ‘Disillusioned’ veer along a more nu-metal course, especially with their rapped vocals. While there is some interesting use of light and shade, particularly in the former offering, there is not really enough going on to maintain interest beyond the initial spin.

‘Condemned To Repeat’ is an interesting approach; an experiment which has been tried before, and on this occasion works at its most basic level, but one which perhaps could have done with more fine tuning and maybe even a more imaginative approach to the songwriting process, taking the bands further from their respective comfort zones to produce something truly unique rather than something that merely leaves you pondering “what if…?”.

  • ‘Condemned To Repeat’ is released on Friday (26 April). You can get your copy HERE.

Deference play the following dates with Confessions Of A Traitor this coming weekend:

  • Friday 26 – High Wycombe, Phoenix Bar
  • Saturday 27 – Tunbridge Wells, The Sussex
  • Sunday 28 – Norwich, Gringos

They then play the following dates in May, with Last Hounds, MSRY and Centuries:

  • Thursday 16 – Camden, The Black Heart
  • Friday 17 – Leamington Spa, Zephyr
  • Saturday 18 – Southampton, Joiners

Vanity play Summitfest, alongside MTXS, The Uncharted, After Smoke Clears, Tether, Thieves, Absalom, Versa and more, on Sunday 11 August.

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