Deja Vu-Ejected

Infernö Records
2016

Deja Vu is a German quartet that was originally formed in 1986 by vocalist/guitarist Werner Kerscher and guitarist/vocalist Timo Zach. Falling somewhere between classic heavy metal, modern power metal, and traditional speed metal, Deja Vu is rounded out by bassist/vocalist WolpoWohlhaupter and drummer Stephan Moro (ex-Deep Inside Myself) and they were initially active up until 1991. During the group's first  run a limited-edition two-track single was released (1990's "Back To The City"), but it was only after Deja Vu got back together in 2000 that full-length recordings started to appear. Released back on April 15th, "Ejected" is Deja Vu's third full-length album overall and it comes eight years after the release of "Decibel Disease". With a run-time of over 53 minutes, "Ejected" seems to be Deja Vu effort to make up for the long wait between albums. Otherwise how else can one explain the fact that "Ejected" is simply too-long?  On one hand the album has a remarkable flow and it is simply exceptional in it's quality! There are songs here that all but scorch the skyline(!) and you have more than your fair share of over-the-top guitar solos!! You have an album here that is fast and melodic. And best of all you have some divine heavy metal material with rock and roll structures. We all know how captivating that can be! Pound for pound this one only gets better as it flies on by....up to a point. As much as I love what this Bavaria-based band can do there is a cut off limit that should have been observed. Had Deja Vu trimmed some of the excess "fat" from their third album it would have been as close to a perfect recording as any band could hope for!  Does that make this bad release then? Hell no! Just because the album is a tad bit too long for it's own good that is no reason to hit the eject button on "Ejected". If anything it just means that Deja Vu should be more selective with their material going forward. Just like many enjoyable things in life (food, alcohol, sex, etc.) you can quickly reach a saturation point where there is just way too much of that good thing. Given all of that, Deja Vu is still a really talented lot with a sound and style that can't be beat. For that reason alone I look forward to hearing more from this German band.