Album Review: Derange - Senses Part Two
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Senses, part 2 is the new EP from tech-metal-cum-alternative quintet, Derange and it’s twenty minutes of music that insists on drawing the listener back. The radio-friendly The Hunted opens the proceedings in urgent style and sets a pretty good manifesto for the rest of the record. The vocals range from the high to the gruff, the guitar work is sharp and the breakdown is suitably heavy. Throw in a smattering of electonica and Derange have made a credible account of themselves.
For a platter as concise as Senses, part 2, Derange somehow manage to shoe-horn all manner of ideas to the run-time and demonstrate their versatility as a band. The guitars fluctuate between crushingly aggressive and subtly sparse across the record, unveiling some memorable hooks along the way. The vocal performance from Cat Pereira is a tour-de-force of range, from the ferocious attack of the anthemic We Are to the hauntingly lush Take It All. In this track Cat conjures the spirit of Within Temptation’s Sharon Del Adel’s soulful and passionate voice.
However, the understated stars of Sense, part 2 is the rhythm section . The work they put in across the five tracks is nothing short of heroic; sometimes buried in the mix, other times to the forefront, the close-knit work solidifies the foundation of all that is good about Derange’s latest.
Alumni of UK festivals like Tech-Fest and the 2016 edition of Bloodstock Open Air, Derange sound like a band crafted from time on the road. And had it not been for these lockdown shenanigans, I would be on my way to Manchester next week for their Satan’s Hollow show.
