FORBIDDEN — Distortion (review)

FORBIDDEN — Distortion album cover Album · 1994 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Distortion" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Forbidden. The album was released through GUN Records in November 1994, almost five years after the release of "Twisted Into Form (1990)". A release frequency which was a bit longer than usual for the time. A couple of circumstances prevented an earlier release though. First of all drummer Paul Bostaph left Forbidden to join Slayer. He is replaced here by Steve Jacobs. Secondly the musical climate changed dramatically between the release of "Twisted Into Form (1990)" and "Distortion", and Forbidden found themselves searching for a label to release the album, and that was a longer process than anticipated. Forbidden shared the fate of many 80s thrash metal acts, who had created a solid reputation in the 80s, only to be forgotten soon in the early 90s, when other music styles "stole" their audience.

They did what they could to adapt to the new musical climate of the times, as "Distortion" is not a "straight" thrash metal release by any means. It´s heavy, dark, groove laden, and aggressive, and generally features very few fast-paced thrash metal rhythms or riffs. The musicianship is still on a very high level and sharp heavy groove metal riffs and rhythms are delivered with great conviction. Lead vocalist Russ Anderson generally sings a bit more rough and less "theatrical" than he did on the predecessors, but it´s still audible that he is a very skilled vocalist with a strong set of pipes.

"Distortion" also features a well sounding production job, so all prerequisites are there for the album to be a success. Unfortunately the songwriting isn´t that inspired and not many tracks stand out as particularly memorable (and closing the album with a pretty standard quality cover version of "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, doesn´t make the album any more interesting). It´s like all the great features of the two predecessors have been left behind in search of a contemporary sound which could reach a new audience, but the material simply aren´t strong enough for that. If you meassure "Distortion" against contemporary releases by artists like Machine Head and Pantera, there´s just no competition. In that context it´s a forgettable and quite mediocre release. They should probably instead have stuck to their guns and attempted to ride out the thrash metal hostile 90s with their heads held high, because "Distortion" neither gave them critical acclaim nor commercial success. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
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