Inevitable End

The Severed Inception

Written by: AB on 13/04/2009 23:59:03

So, remember I told you in my last review that PP and TL kept handing me random extreme metal promos? Well, here's one of them. "The Severed Inception" is the debut from Sweden's Inevitable End, and is a pure death/grind act - right up my alley. While Sweden is generally known for the whole 'melody' thingie in the collective metal mind (and the few big Scandinavian, non-Norwegian black metal acts there are around - Marduk and Dissection especially), our brotha-land has lately (2000+) churned out some exciting brutal/technical death metal albums devoid of any tired melodic parts but heavy with both ambition and skill. Here I am obviously not talking about the overrated and overhyped Vomitory, but rather about super interesting bands like Spawn of Possession or Visceral Bleeding. What I'm getting at here is that even though I heard the description 'Swedish Death Metal' of Inevitable End I am not as put off as I might have been if I had thought about bands like Dark Tranquility, In Flames or Arch Enemy.

Well, about 2 seconds into opener and title track my fears are proved wrong - no guitar wankery in the Gothenburg sense of the word in sight. Neither does Inevitable End sound in any way like the other big Swedish death metal 'movement' fronted by Grave, Dismember, Unleashed and the likes where old school mid tempo brutality is the order of the day. Instead, what is offered here is aggressive death/grind with a distinct 'American' sound. In fact, "The Severed Inception" has more in common with the Californian brutal/technical death metal scene than with any Swedish band I can think of.

Yep, super fast riffing, small hints of melody in the short leads and hooks scattered throughout the album, blasting drumming, down-tuned guitars, deep growls and a speed level to match - it wouldn't be amiss to compare Inevitable End to technical deathsters like Odious Mortem or the most recent Severed Saviour release. Of course this tried and tested (though not by themselves) formula has been altered a bit by the Swedes, with some nice dual vocal work being incorporated a little bit, much less solo work than the usual, and, I am sad to say, even a few crappy breakdowns scattered around. On a more positive note, when they slow things down instead of breaking them down, they have managed to craft some very well done groove into the brutality. While the guitar work is generally fine without ever being as cool as the American acts whose sound Inevitable End tries to recapture, the drum work is very well done - a thing that's also helped along by the drums favourable position in the mix, the vocals are, if not boring, then at least not really exciting. Most of the time on the verge between a classic guttural growl and a crappy roar, the vocals only impress when they (too rarely) turn into high pitched growls/screams.

So yeah. As has been proved by Inevitable End's brothers in arms from the other side of the Atlantic, this style of death metal works. On the other hand, Inevitable End does first and foremost not add anything new with "The Severed Inception", and furthermore, their almost complete lack of solos makes the music sound strangely anonymous (despite all the small melodic hooks). Competent, if easily forgettable.

7

Download: The Severed Inception, The Art of Corruption
For the fans of: Odious Mortem, Severed Saviour, Hour of Penance
Listen: last.fm

Release date 17.03.2009
Relapse Records

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