Internecine
The Book of Lambs
7.7
Let the sonic assault begin! Jared Anderson of Hate Eternal fame puts forth his first solo effort with Internecine, and what an effort it is! Don't chalk this release up to be a Hate Eternal rip-off either. The sounds of the two bands are pretty different, although Eric Rutan makes a couple guest appearances for some Hate Eternal like solos. Listening to The Book of Lambs seems a bit more groove oriented than Hate Eternal's stuff is. In saying that, that brings me to the musicianship of the album. As I mentioned above Jared Anderson churns out some great grooves in this album, not to mention the unbridled speed that runs rampant in this release. At times it almost reminds me ever so slightly of Cryptopsy, which in my opinion is a very good thing. Eric Rutan does an exceptional job on the solos; you can definitely tell it's him when you hear them. Tony Laureno and Derek Roddy do an awesome job of heading up the kit in this album. Tony does the drumming for most of the tracks, but Derek has two of his own. It fits the nature of the album perfectly. It kicks you in the face and keeps you asking for more. Jared does a good job with the vokills too. He has a pretty brutal voice. The lyrics contained on the album are the usual blasphemous stuff, but written with style. Jared seems really enveloped with the Apocalypse judging by the lyrics. The idea of it pops up in just about every song in one form or another. The production on this album sounds pretty much like Hate Eternal material. That should come as no surprise though considering Eric Rutan handled the production himself. He does a good job with it too, the production is really solid. My only complaint with the album is that it's a little short. It only clocks in at around 35 minutes. When it comes down to it though, this album just plain kicks ass. I am looking forward to seeing if Jared continues his work with this solo project. I assume he will, because this album should be pretty well received by most death metal listeners out there. Some of my favorite tracks are Ceremonies of Deceit (Effulgence Rituals), For Thee I Bleed, and Inverted. One other cool thing on this album was the eighth track, Hymns of Sanctity. It's not really a song, but it just sounds really haunting. When I listen to it I imagine all the demon like faces on the cover of the album screaming at me; it's really cool. If you like your music fast and brutal and dig bands like Hate Eternal, Angel Corpse, Cryptopsy, and Nile then this album is for you. When you head out to pick up the latest Hate Eternal offering, King of All Kings (which is also really good by the way), shell out the extra couple of bucks to pick up this one too. You won't be disappointed.
