Despair
Beyond All Reason

Some bands are known as a springboard for their band members’ further succes rather than for their own music. Germany’s Despair is one of those bands. Original vocalist Robert Kampf would go on to start Century Media Records, guitarist Waldemar Sorychta is a renowned producer and known for Grip Inc. rather than Despair, while drummer Markus Freiwald recently played with Sodom. It is unfortunate that Despair is a forgotten name, because their third and thus far final album ‘Beyond All Despair’ in particular is an incredible work of progressive thrash metal. It strikes the perfect balance between melody, aggression and complexity. Debut album ‘History Of Hate’ was a great example of music that has the unbridled aggression of thrash metal with a greater emphasis on compositorical intricacy. The production and the vocals occasionally were more primitive than necessary, but the material on the album showed great promise. When Kampf departed the band to focus on his record label, the arrival of Andreas Henschel allowed the band to go in a somewhat more melodic direction, as even his barks have a somewhat melodic slant. And where second album ‘Decay Of Humanity’ suffers from monotony, its follow-up does almost everything right. One notable thing about ‘Beyond All Reason’ is how much it sounds like ‘Nosferatu’-era Helstar at times. ‘Imported Love’ and ‘Son Of The Wild’ in particular would fit that album. The riffs consist of lots of notes and are almost neoclassical in approach, but at the same time, they have a dark, eerie atmosphere that really makes ‘Beyond All Reason’ stand out among Despair’s discography. The semi-ballad ‘In The Deep’ has a more than passing resemblance to ‘The Curse Has Passed Away’, though with a much more engaging second half. It would not be fair to accuse Despair of copying Helstar here, but the influence can clearly be heard. It is worth noting that despite the more atmospheric and progressive approach – at times enhanced by Sorychta’s tasteful keyboard work – Despair still shows its thrash metal roots here. The riff work in ‘Rage In The Eyes’, for instance, is every bit as classy as on the rest of the album, but a bit more aggressive than on other tracks. The following ‘Burnt Out Souls’ is very aggressive in its rhythms as well. ‘Deaf And Blind’, on the other hand, has the more proggy side of the band on full display without feeling like a disorienting opening track. The dense ‘The Day Of Desperation’ is somewhat slower, but no less complex and inspired. While ‘History Of Hate’ is often seen as the ultimate Despair album, ‘Beyond All Reason’ is the record where the quality of everyone involved shines through. The compositions are great, the production is a perfect fit for the progressive thrash style on the record and Sorychta and Marek Greschek – interestingly both born in Poland – are an incredible guitar team. There are great riffs and solos from both all over the record and in that regard, instrumental closer ‘Crossed In Sorrow’ is a perfect showpiece for them. Anyone looking for progressive or technical thrash metal with a little something special should look no further.