CoC : Verdict - Reflections of Pain : Review

Verdict - _Reflections of Pain_
(Independent, 2002)
by: Pedro Azevedo (6 out of 10)

The trashy metal presented by Verdict comes wrapped in a decent sound, and the band seem to be well into what they're doing. Old-school influences prevail on _Reflections of Pain_, and I've no doubt Verdict are passionate about their music. At some stages in the album they come up with smart passages that spice things up a bit, and the album is generally quite energetic. However, _Reflections of Pain_ still suffers somewhat from being a full-length, in the sense that a lot of it is quite generic -- even though there's nothing hugely wrong with it, there's hardly anything very remarkable during a vast portion of the album either. Some of these breaks and riffs had their day a bit too long ago, much as Verdict do a decent job with them. Verdict are technically competent, even though the music could be fuller (through some busier percussion, perhaps), and do manage to come up with relatively fresh-sounding passages as well -- this isn't a blatant rehash of old days. It just seems to lack something to make it stand out from such a huge crowd in the year 2003.

Contact: http://www.verdict.de

(article published 28/4/2003)