The third assault from Danish death 'n' metalcore merchants has been unleashed. The band have grown into a 5-piece and it can be heard. First of all, they give bigger beating than before, at least on a recorded media. Hefty, yet rusty guitars and the pounding rhythm section are accompanied by a throat-lacerating growler/shouter/barker, and the band sound complete, filled with energy and passion.

Musicwise, the band balance somewhere in the middle of death metal and metalcore, but at times touching more melodic ground and usually ending up sounding quite close to The Haunted and At The Gates, but Inimical do not get a copycat stamp. 'Hatred Breeds Hatred' maims with pure aggressive energy and huge groove, but suddenly in comes a melodic part and a fine guitar solo. Now, I recommend a listener to take cover. 'Emptied of Life' fire with every cylinder. A huge fucking BOOM and it's time for hectic grooving again. The song's chorus is simply pure death metal grandeur. A tad straighter 'Another War' and in-your-face aggression and on-your-ballsacks heaviness of 'Remnants of a Black Soul' continue the trend, but can't climb up to the same level as the first two songs. Heck, still they give bruises, believe me. 'False Prophets' is the most The Haunted-esque song. 'Ugly' offers a bit more varied rhythm patterns, and therefore it raises above the songs 3-5.

Soundwise this surely is heavy. As mentioned, the guitars simply slay. The triggered drums are a bit too machiney sounding for my liking and the bass is way too quiet in the mix. So, it's not very balanced at all. Good enough for a demo, but not much else.

This EP is self-released. The band went through some changes in their line-up, and maybe that's why the band aren't on any label. I can't come up with any other explanation, because Inimical should be on a fucking record label! Surely there could be more variety in the band's music, but it makes its point.

Rating: 6+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/05/2009 20:12