I was waiting for a debut album from Incendium from Vaasa, Finland. It didn't happen, so they sent me their third demo. Well, at least they didn't give up trying.

Incendium get heavier again and also broaden their musical horizon a bit. Incendium basically perform heavy metal with some Finnish trademark also known as melancholy, and it kicks ass more than last time around. And that's always better for my tastes. The opener 'Devastated Life' is the heaviest and also the angriest song here, reminding me of latter day Sentenced, but never too much. While being quite a simple composition, it works well and surely did surprise me with its indignation. 'Stoned' is a bit similar, but more of an up-tempo song, with Charon-esque chorus. The rocker of the demo. 'Weak' fucking surprised me: A piano-driven melancohlic song with some modern prog metal touches and some very tasty guitar work. The song isn't what its title says, believe me! 'Letter' is a calm piano/female and male duet song, which happens to be a tad too typical for its kind.

Aki Hahto's voice is quite individual and helps to lift Incendium up from the mass of Finnish metal, which has a lot of melancholic touches flowing these days. He uses middle register, never sinking inhumanly low like The 69 Eyes' vocalist, but neither is Aki inhaling any helium. Plus, his voice is powerful and he controls it better than before. There's some shouty vocals too, but not in "nu-metal" way. The band's performance is also good, not much sloppiness noticed. The sound is almost of professional level. It's clean and there's both lower and higher end in it.

This demo shows Incendium's many faces. It might not work as a whole, thanks to varying styles in a quarter of hour. Anyways, I can't but wait for a debut album next time, because this is professionally created for a demo. Good luck hunting down that pussy... I mean a record deal.

Reviewed by Lane
07/21/2005 22:51