''Beyond Recognition'' is the third full-length album (and final until 2009's ''

The Prophecy ''The Prophecy'' is a 1995 American fantasy thriller horror film starring Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen, Eric Stoltz, and Viggo Mortensen. It was written and directed by Gregory Widen in his feature directorial debut, and ...

'') by American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band

Defiance Defiance may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Defiance'' (1952 film), a Swedish drama film directed by Gustaf Molander * ''Defiance'' (1980 film), an American crime drama starring Jan-Michael Vincent * ''Defiance'' (2002 film), a ...

, released in 1992 on

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

. It was a bit of a departure from the band's previous work. It can be best described as " progressive thrash metal", featuring more complex song structures,

odd time signatures A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

, numerous key and tempo changes, technical

riffs A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

and drumming, and even clean sections that often evoked

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

. This newer, more distinctive style earned the band their biggest critical success to date, and many fans hail it as their finest work. Despite this, the album did not sell as well as their previous works due to a shifting musical landscape and as a result, poor advertisement for the album. It has been out of print for many years, though many thrash fans consider it to be a lost gem of the genre. During the recording of ''Beyond Recognition'', vocalist Steev Esquivel temporarily left the band due to lack of focus due to drug addiction. He came back later when the band was not satisfied with their replacement vocalist. All of the tracks on the album still had Esquivel on lead vocals. Former Heathen vocalist Dave White makes a guest appearance on "Inside looking Out", doing a vocal harmony with Esquivel during the chorus line.

Ed Repka Edward J. Repka (born October 22, 1960) is an American graphic artist, best known for creating album covers for metal bands as well as shirt designs, including those featuring Megadeth's mascot Vic Rattlehead. Repka's portfolio also includes Da ...

also did the cover art.

Track listing

#Killing Floor (03:45) #Step Back (05:01) #Perfect Nothing (05:38) #No Compromise (04:14) #Dead Silence (04:10) #Inside Looking Out (05:19) #The Chosen (04:16) #Powertrip (04:22) #Promised Afterlife (4:50) #Beyond Recognition (Unreleased 1991) (Bonus track) (1:20)

Lineup

*Steev Esquivel – lead vocals *Doug Harrington – guitars *Jim Adams – guitars *Mike Kaufmann – bass *Matt Vander Ende – drums *Dave White – backing vocals on "Inside Looking Out"

References

1992 albums Defiance (band) albums Roadrunner Records albums Albums with cover art by Ed Repka {{1990s-thrash-metal-album-stub