Review of Iniquity - Grime

"Death metal spawned from the deepest pit in Denmark". That's the quote on Iniquity's web site, and to be honest, I think their music fits the quote like a glove... I can't really come up w/ any similar sounding bands for Iniquity. At least, that was the case for the 1st 20 spins or so in the carousel of death. However, after listening to some Nile & Cryptopsy, a little of these two monsters of death metal can be detected in Iniquity's refreshing style. They definitely do employ chaos theory here, and it caught my ear and dragged me along the bumpy, pothole-filled road all the way through, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the beating. The guitar riffs are good and technical, and very "notey". And they are downtuned heavily to at least a low B I am guessing. The guitar tone is a little bit different from what I am used to hearing. I almost want to say it's too contained or flat, but the enormous beefiness when the chords ring changes my mind. And these artificial harmonics RULE!! Unique, different, and refreshing all rolled into one. Jesper Frost's drum work and drum sound are nothing short of spectacular. Lots of chaos and surprising tempo changes remind me a tad of Cryptopsy's "Flo", but I won't get too carried away here…Something else that I think deserves a good mention here is the fan-fucking-tastic artwork and layout design for this album. The concept of perceptual set is well known in the psychology circles of today, and this cover is a perfect example: the outrageously eerie abstract collage on the cover sets the mood and your interpretation of the songs. Evil, dark, complex and horrific. I really want to see more art like this in the future (and if you want to see just how far this sort of art has come, just take a look at the cover from Carcass's Symphonies of Sickness and then Iniquity's Grime and you'll see what I mean). So, yeah. I'll admit that I am watching Candlelight closely now because they seem to know their shit when it comes to signing bands. America seems to be losing it's stronghold as far as boasting some of the most brutal and innovative death metal bands go. Yeah, the Florida days are essential, but they are going to have one hell of a time competing w/ the slowly emerging "overseas style" of brutal death that is really catching my interest and keeping it. I didn't know a whole hell of a lot about Denmark pre-Iniquity, but now at least I know they're not all a bunch freckle-faced pilgrims sitting around their butter churns chanting "Uff-Da". Apparently quality death metal hails from there as well. Oh well. Shows how much I know. I'm American…

Release Details

Iniquity

Grime

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