Fractured Reality

Michigan U.S.A. based Endangered Reign are back with their second full-length album and judging by the addition of new lead vocalist Anthony Cunningham, I'd say that the band read and took very seriously the reviews for their last album Unborn Legacies. Guitarist Marc Ridenour had previously handled the vocals and despite a valiant effort, were one of the weaker points with the band's overall sound. Fractured Reality continues with the band's mid tempo yet chunky heavy style with a few modern metal "tendencies" this time around.

Much like their previous efforts, Endangered Reign prefer the mid tempo type of song with chugging de-tuned guitar riffs propelled by crisp, hammering double bass work by Jeremy Diephouse. The album begins with Edge of the Unreal, a track that borrows a bit from the Iced Earth playbook in using harmonized riffing over a chugging main riff. The crisp and powerful drum sound is there right from the start and continues for the entire album. Tracks like Mind Messiah and Tears of Glass feature a little more melody and are strong "chorus focussed" with the title track, Absence of Timee and Soul Cages taking on a tougher and in the case of Soul Cages, a decidedly Slayer-like thrashier metal style. Descend stands out as a more atmospheric track with more solid harmonized riffing and some great shredding lead work with others like Bleeding Jericho and Lost In The Grey being more riff focussed and crushing heavy.

Anthony Cunningham has the straight up and nothing fancy traditional metal type of voice but there are times when he strains and on a few occasions, doesn't quite fit with the band's sound. He does however bring a stronger vocal presence for the band than before (sorry Marc!).

Overall, some strong improvements here over their previous album but Fractured Reality really lacks killer or really different paced/tempo songs; an issue that plagued their last album as well. There are some great sounding songs however and pulling a couple of these off to use in a compilation would definitely make people take notice but the better songs get lost in the monotony of the rest of the album. Enjoyable for those who like the slower chugging heavy type of metal, the production is top notch with a crisp and very crunching heavy overall sound. They list their influences as everything from Megadeth to Iced Earth and Brainstorm with more classic influences from Metal Church, Testament, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden also being found in their material. Solid for an unsigned and self-financed band, there are so many bands like this out there that they will still need to take it up a few more notches to rise above the rest and get noticed. Extra points though for a great package, solid artwork and killer production.....a rarity with albums from unsigned bands anymore.