End Reality – Three Distraught Monkeys

My whole life I’ve lived by one saying and one saying only, I live for today and only today because tomorrow is never promised in this world. Several people, along with my parents have never understood why I live in the moment because everything they do is planned or somewhat organized. I can’t call myself a crazy person for living in the moment though because certain situations have proven that it’s perfectly fine to just worry about today and let tomorrow be worried about when it arrives. I won’t bore you with all of the details about my past experiences but one of them is sitting right in front you, End Reality’s debut record “Three Distraugh Monkey”. Storming out of Lille and Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France, these four (currently three because Samuel has left the band) hell raisers create a mixture of chaotic technical death metal with a splash of post-thrash and a pinch of progressive metal that will have your head spinning until it falls off.

Normally, I don’t go into details about intro/first tracks but with “Three Distraught Monkeys”, the opening track really does set the pace for the rest of the record. Once you hear the sounds of rusty swings swaying back and forth and rainfall, prepare for war with your eardrums because nine out of ten times, those eardrums will cave in and let you blast them with anything you want to feed them. “End Reality“, the first track on the record, shows you that the battle ahead of you is going to be a no-holds barred war filled with very melodic sections that might make you fall in love with this band but also very technical riffs and drumming that will splatter your insides from left to right as if you were inside a white canvased room. Among those things mentioned, the record overall has some very surprising moments with the vocal work and has some of the heaviest bass lines that I’ve heard in a technical-post-prog-death-thrash release in a couple years. Don’t let this record fool you though because even though it’s melodic, chaotic and heavy you still feel in place and safe that the smoky mirrors and creatures of the night will never attack you again, or will they?

The visions that this record gave me as I was blasting it through my house were very complex to describe yet very simple to understand. It made me feel distant from the outside world yet surrounded by people at the same time. Maybe that was the chaos speaking to me? If that’s the case, chaos can whisper sweet nothings into my ear at anytime it pleases. As I mentioned above, the vocal work on this record is phenomenal and when I say phenomenal, I mean fucking spot on, even brilliant. From the clean vocal work that soothed my heart like a child in candy store to the very twisted yet unorganized screams that he pushes out of himself. As scrambled and dysfunctional as he may sound, it all matches up on record, so trust me on this one. Don’t think that the vocal work is the only thing that End Reality has to offer though because when you listen carefully, you could be swallowed whole by the instruments and how they’re used in each individual track.

Along with the vocal work, the other three members bring something great and energetic to the table as well. From the drumming and pounding that Fab presents to you on a golden platter to the riffs that Flo and Franck surprise you with while you beg them for more heaviness to bash your skull with, it’s relentless damage that I can get used to. Along with the bashing of skulls and the massive chaos factor inside “Three Distraught Monkeys”, you should also find serenity inside some of the other tracks but mainly “Heartless“, the fifth and final track. As the rainfall starts to fall again and you near the end of the record, a very old and beaten door is opened for you. All I can say is I hope you enjoy the minute and forty-four seconds of mild acoustic guitars and smooth voice that’s caressing those ears because for the next six minutes or so, hell will be knocking on your doorstep with sledgehammers and body bags to bury you in.

Finally, out of all the countries in the world, I can only rely on a handful to really fill me up like this guy. When it comes to finding records that will never fail me, France has slowly but surely made a concrete position at the top of that list and with projects like End Reality, I’m a hundred percent positive that France will stay at the top of that list for a fair amount of time.. So, what’s the moral of this review? Life is too short to worry about the struggles that might be waiting for you around the next corner so be wise and treat yourself to a great gift that will stay with you for a lifetime, even through all those struggles and trials you may fear. End Reality – The one band that makes no sense on paper but when it comes to sounds, they make the most sense of all.

Listen to “Bubble Paradox” below:

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