Review Summary: Realm’s short but supreme rule consolidated and rounded up in 45 minutes of superior thrash.
When a band’s sophomore effort maintains the fervor, atmosphere and creative energy of its predecessor without being a copy of it, one possible albeit superficial reason to have it scored slightly less would be that it formally came second and thus lacks the magical ‘this one came first’ quality of the formidable debut. Comparing Realm’s 1990 opus
Suiciety to
Endless War that was released two years earlier, the critical ear may detect a somewhat clearer production with the bass notably higher in the mix, which is by no means a bad thing as it gives Steve Post’s playing its due as an emphatic complement to the ferocious guitar riffs (if you want almost tangible bass runs and chords slapping you gently but decidedly across the face, just listen to
Final Solution or
Cain Rose Up – or any other track for that matter). Overall,
Suiciety seems to take a slight technical and progressive edge over
Endless War. Cataclysmic sound effects and sci-fi samples add to an ominous atmosphere in several instances (
Energetic Discontent,
Gateway, title track), while lyrical content takes a more mature angle on the human condition, alienation, societal and psychological discontent (the tragicomical but otherwise outstanding track
Dick forming the only exception in this regard). Other than that, it is exceedingly hard not to just reiterate all of the positive criticism that holds for
Endless War. And indeed, just as both albums can be enjoyed together perfectly, played one after the other in the same stretch or loop, it makes good sense to assess them as two sides of the same coin, that is, as two equally creditable offerings of a band at the peak of their game in the late 1980s.
Composition and instrumentation remain top notch throughout as
Suiciety continues to showcase Realm’s talent for effortlessly combining intelligent design, technical prowess and catchiness in a variety of ways, whether from the merciless onslaught of
Final Solution to the epic desperation of
Knee Deep In Blood (incidentally two tracks that were already part of the band’s repertoire before
Endless War came out), or from the surprisingly effective group shouts/choruses in
Energetic Discontent and
Gateway to the menacing tempo switches of
Fragile Earth and
La Flamme’s Theory. Several tracks, however, add peeks and flashes of further creative experimentation that indicate how Realm at this point had only just started tapping the well of inspiration.
The Brainchild, for instance, apart from containing some of the mightiest shrieking in metal, within its thrash framework seamlessly subsumes and welds together mid-paced melodic hard rock, Beatles-influenced vocal harmonies (think
She’s So Heavy and
Because on
Abbey Road, with a hint of Watchtower’s
Fall Of Reason), clever leads, and the kind of fast-paced, higher-register riffing that will help to make up Vektor’s trademark style almost two decades later. Significantly perhaps, whereas
Endless War opened with the eponymous track, title track
Suiciety is in its rightful spot to close this album: being the more eclectic and conceptual song, it represents an apt and thought-provoking round-up of where the band stood – and, sadly, were left standing – musically at the time.
