Wednesday 11 June 2014

Incarnated - Try Before Die

INCARNATED - Try Before Die (SELFMADEGOD - CD 2014)
Some of you may be familiar with the scene in Białystok, Poland, which brought us many, mostly grinding, extreme metal bands, especially the legendary Dead Infection. Among all those bands there’s also Incarnated… I guess they are not so well known, especially outside of Poland, but they have been bringing slaughter and bloodbath already for few years and released several cool materials. And would you believe if I say that their music is heavily infected by the Swedish sound hehe? But don’t worry, Incarnated is not yet another band, which wants to jump on the wagon of the current trends… they’ve been playing this already for a longer time. There’re two albums released back in 2001 and 2006, some splits… And here is their newest effort, an album titled “Try Before Die”! And it is great news; the timing for the release of “Try Before Die” couldn’t be better and more so, the album is so solid and good that it may give Incarnated some more recognition in the scene. Which I hope they’ll get! I like the album… and probably just one thing bothers me and it is a truly awful artwork. I never understood what is the point in having all these nasty, gory, a’la early Carcass photos on the cover. It just looks bad. OK., some ultra brutal gore, grind bands may find it as suitable, but why Incarnated?? Will need to ask them about it hehe. Of course black metal bands will have a typical satanic image, old school bands will often have a typical horror / zombie artwork… There are many characteristic things for every sub genre, but I just don’t like the artwork for “Try Before Die” – period!
Luckily musically the album is top notch. You must realize though that it may not actually be a typical Swedish death metal affair. Sure, Incarnated has the classic sound – just listen to the killer guitar tone. It is Sverige! But then musically if you would expect to hear the typical Swedish harmonies, atmospheric parts and riffs in the vein of Entombed, then you may not find them here. Incarnated is more like a mixture of the Swedish sound, with some Swedish riffs and even a bit of groove with the brutal death metal, even grind. And with the music, which they have recorded on “Try Before Die” they actually remind me especially one band… which is also Swedish hehe! And they are General Surgery – my personal gods of grind! So, expect a total, fast and brutal death metal. Expect an unstoppable riffing slaughter, expect your ears to bleed! Yes, Incarnated doesn’t waste time for sweet, atmospheric music and just grinds like crazy. Every song on the album is uncompromising, is brutal and is able to rip the guts out, with these riffs and low, repulsive vocals. From the first song “Zombieland” till the last one it is a constant massacre. You know, we have this nice word here in Poland, which fits this music perfectly. This word is “nakurw”. No idea how can I translate it into English to give it its sense, but for me “Try Before Die” is a constant, killer “nakurw”, from start till finish. Some may point out that quite often the music seems to be too one dimensional, with the same tempos, similar riffs and vocal arrangements… maybe yes, but it isn’t something what could affect the whole listening experience too much, at least in my opinion.
And that’s all you really need to know about new Incarnated. Brutal, grinding death metal with Swedish sound, reminiscent of bands like General Surgery, Grave and a little bit Dismember (but with way smaller accent on the melodic side of this music)… A headache for your neighbours guaranteed, hehe!
Standout tracks: “Zombieland”, “Second Side (Out of Mind)”, “My Brother Cain”
Final rate: 70/100

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