Sometimes I listen to an album, enjoy it quite a bit, and then sit down and try to find a name for the style since it’s not spoon-fed to me, but then cases like tonight come in where I couldn’t be fucked to call tonight’s piece anything but metal, and that’s already leading you astray. I’m not trying to say that this record transcends the word of metal itself, but Equaleft is far from strictly metal in the slightest as it’s with their latest offering that we see this Portuguese act take influences from all over to create a quite pleasing album.

What’s important to note here (other than the possible legions of people screaming at me for calling Equaleft anything close to metal after listening) is how Equaleft never once lets themselves be tied down by a single sound as they really allow this album to explore all the sonic space possible for them to excavate as there’s plenty to discover and hear with “We Defy”. That being said, “We Defy” is leagues from anything we haven’t heard before, but there’s so much flavor in these notes along with the passion that you can hear behind the overall intensity that permeates every moment of the record that, if you really just listen to the music, is nothing short of something interesting that can get your foot tapping without noticing. Then there’s how organic Equaleft made this record as no two tracks sound quite the same, but all retain a solid core that, again – nothing we haven’t seen before, pulls the entirety of “We Defy” together nicely. It’s through the whole record that we get plenty of different elements of tasty riffs, electronic effects, brilliant musicianship, and more as Equaleft shows us what they’re made of.

I can absolutely understand why someone might turn this album off because it’s something that’s been done over and over almost to death as well as belonging to a sound that many people leave towards less favorable members of society sometimes, but there’s genuine quality here with “We Defy”. Equaleft shows real passion for the entirety of this record, and this is a band that I’d happily revisit over and over simply to see how much they’ve grown over time as musicians.

LIKE Equaleft on Facebook here.