Band:	Delta
Album:	Deny Humanity
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	August 2010

01. Fatal Error
02. Over and Over Again
03. Revolution
04. Desire Within
05. Doors Keep Spinning
06. Perfect Insanity
07. Fragile
08. 2702
09. Virtual Life
10. God or Science
11. Human Touch

Delta is a neoclassical prog band from Chile. So far everything I've heard from Chile has been amazing across the genre spectrum; does Delta's latest album Deny Humanity live up to their countrymen? Well, yes and no?

The instrumentalists bring a high energy and attack to the music, which has some instantly memorable moments in the midst of varied moods and tempos. This is rock solid melodic metal with an amazing rhythm section and just the right amount of keyboards spicing things up. So what's the problem? The vocals, if you can call them that. This guy pretty much just yells on pitch in this hideously nasal fashion. The vocals cover the otherwise nice music like a haze of pollution. It's difficult to see through the smog and grime but once you do, you notice a shimmering city of melodic metal that's choking to death. Therefore it's easy to pass this album up as bad or mediocre when in fact there are many wonderful things happening, just hidden.

The thing about terrible vocals is that they're likely to grow on you over time, as in you grow numb and tune them out. If you're someone who doesn't mind bad vocals then there might be hope for you here. To find out, try songs like the harder hitting "Doors Keep Spinning," which has one of the more interesting compositions and a beautiful chorus (and probably blends the "vocals" the best), or the pseudo-ballad "Fragile." This song follows a classic theme of slow, softer verse then amped up chorus but there is a nice dreamy guitar solo at the bridge, and despite being rather formulaic, this is probably the most memorable song on the album. If these don't work for you, there is always the glorious instrumental track "2702" which shows off the rest of the band nicely while pumping you up with some worthy guitar work.

I can only imagine this music alongside a more classical voice, such as those of the frontmen of Falconer or Kamelot, or even some sub-standard melodic metal voice with an ounce of beauty to it; beauty in the vocals would reverberate 10-fold through the beauty of the music. Deny Humanity is Delta's fourth full-length release but all hope is not lost. If Delta is lucky enough one day to replace their vocalist with one who actually complements the music, then watch out.