Normally I review albums of my choosing however, in all honesty, I had not heard of Minus Life prior to being sent their second album ‘Contorted Reality’ so, as a result, I find myself coming into this completely unbiased and totally uninformed. Not that this is a problem, of course, I have somehow managed to get through life so far in just such a state, it just means that I will be forming an erudite opinion on the fly, so I apologize in advance for the quality of my work.
It has been well over a decade since Minus Life released their debut, ‘Eternal Urban Megacide’, though this probably has a lot to do with them splitting up, reforming under a different name, and then coming full circle a few years ago. Not an uncommon story by any means but it does provide them with an opportunity to make a second first impression with this new iteration and ‘Contorted Reality’ certainly does that as far as I am concerned.
Thanks to the wonders of Bandcamp I was able to go back to their debut as a point of reference and, while there is no doubt it is the same band, it also becomes clear that they have improved in the years that have passed between albums. Certainly, ‘Contorted Reality’ comes across as a far more confident and developed effort, with a much-improved production as well, and, as a result, it is both forceful and engaging in its execution.
At the risk of appearing lazy, as well as ignorant, I could make a simple description of their sound as the illegitimate brood of Darkane and Fear Factory and, even though that probably doesn’t do Minus Life justice, I will go with it. There are plenty of precise rhythms, pummeling riffs, swirls of keyboards, and dual vocals throughout and, if I had to choose a song to start with, it would have to be ‘The Bled Unbroken’ as it pulls all of these elements together perfectly.
Let’s face it, the return of a band can generally go one of two ways, either they release something that makes you wonder why they bothered in the first place (I won’t name names) or it justifies their decision to come back. Fortunately, “Contorted Reality” falls into the latter category and I guess the ultimate compliment I can give is, having spent time with the cold, soulless digital promo up until now, I will certainly be investing in a copy of the CD-based upon what I have heard here.
Minus Life: Facebook
Release Year: 2021
Label: self-released
Category: Album
Country: Australia
Reviewed by Peter Schulz
