INSISION “Revealed & Worshipped” (Earache)
INVERACITY “Circle Of Perversion” (Unmatched Brutality)
It makes sense to do a joint review of latest INSISION & INVERACITY records. Not only because the two bands shared a split release -initially as a 10”EP by cult DM label Nuclear Winter rec, later as a MCD out by Revenge Prod-, but also because they have a common passion of american brutal DM & despite their european origin they manage to sound as competitive as the overseas masters.
INSISION is the kind of band that built up its name in the underground circuit via some excellent early releases like the “Revelation Of The Sadogod” demotape which eventually ended in a split release with greek squadron INVERACITY. Their perseverence was rewarded with a contract offered by Wicked World/Earache.
This excellent new record proves that their potential is evolutive & goes beyond their much acclaimed debut album “Beneath The Folds Of Flesh”. Not resting on their laurels, the band improved as players. They play faster, with more precision. The structures are complex serving exclusively the interest of the compositions. Insision display certain songwriting skills knowing how to fit the pieces together. Their efficiency is the same when they pay tribute to all things old-school & thrashy (think Slayer, Malevolent Creation) in trax like “The Unrest”, or in the modern deathmetal forms they introduce – listen to “Imminent Vision” ‘s wicked midtempo riff. The way the blasts, the breakdowns & the thrashy parts alternate remind me the best rythmic moments of bands like Suffocation (=>“The Foul Smell Of Humans”!), Morbid Angel or even Cannibal Corpse. Birath’s vokills are definitely a highlight. I’ve already expressed my admiration about how he “spreads” his voice occupying a lot of space in the final mix, instead of trying to produce the most guttural growl possible.
All this is delivered in the best possible terms with a massive but unpolished production by Mieszko (NASUM) @ Soundlab studios. There is a fine balance between the crushing drums & the powerful guitars, which makes it really easy to absorb all this tremendous amount of brutality w/out any unpleasant 1st impression or adaptation time. It travels straight from your ears to your spinal column.
Everybody who knows something can tell you that it is 100x easier for a swedish DM band to get things goin’ rather than a greek band. This is not the reason why I fiercly praise INVERACITY. Any sympathy & patriotism left apart, their debut album is by all points a very strong release in the worldwide brutal DM actuality. The production, while not at the Soundlab levels, is more than satisfactory & totally fucking surprising if you think it has been made locally. They share with Insision the same songwriting gift which makes them write compositions who flow smoothly while they brutalize with force the known universe. The evident SUFFOCATION influences are not an handicap, since instead of copy/paste’ing they have managed to get inspired for a result of their own. Compared to INSISION they have more breakdowns & moshable/danceable mid-tempo parts - to which they’re really good. Having only one guitarist is not a big problem with the awesome bass sound they have. How many times you notice the bass lines during a whole DM record, anyway? The drums have a personal sound, the snare has a lot of impact & it doesn’t sound like a bell (like it did on their demo-CD & split, think about Dehumanized drum sound).
OK, I think you got it, if you’re into brutal DM then you have some shopping (or downloading) to do… Support both bands, they deserve it!
Panos Agoros 2004
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