Vanish
Altered Insanity

Insanity seems to be the name of the game for the band that calls itself Vanish, a few years ago we praised the album The Insanity Abstract and now the come with Altered Insanity. The title seems to be well thought out as they are offering some altered songs now with guest singers like Alicja Mroczka, Tim “Ripper” Owens and Ralf Scheepers giving new life to the songs and they add the Black Sabbath track Heaven And Hell as a tribute to the late great Ronnie James Dio. It is a five track EP that plays for around twenty minutes.

Progressive stuff with some thrashier touches, quite powerful and energetic. It is also an EP that shows more variation than the album I reviewed earlier due to using different voices for the different songs, it gives a more dynamic appearance than the album, this is exaggerated by the shorter playing time as there are so few tracks and they are varied it can almost seem incoherent. The production is good, it has a nice and edgy sound and I actually think it has more relevance than many other EP-releases with album stuff that I have heard as it gives a different perspective on the songs as they are reimagined.

This is a good EP, not fantastic but very good nonetheless. It is also relevant as it gives a different perspective to these songs, and I always find it interesting when you have the audacity to reinvent yourself, not many artists do. The opening Pale King is the finest track and I like this version more than I like the one I heard on the album a few years ago. Thing is though, that this opening track is the best and it kind of feels like downhill from there, it is never good when the first track is a bit stronger than the rest as it leaves you feeling that it should have been better, that it never lives up to the way it starts. I think that is the case with Altered Insanity, it is a good EP maybe not as good as it could have been.

I like this EP, it offers some fine music, nice alternate takes for the insanity, enjoyable songs. I think that it could be worth checking this one out, especially if you are a fan of the band.

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