Destination : Pyroclasm

In-Quest is band from Belgium that have reinvented modern death metal. In-Quest features Sven (Aborted) on vocals, but the vocals are the only thing that In-Quest and Aborted have in common. In-Quest is not your average gore dripping, ultra brutal, generic death metal band. In-Quest takes a hint from Meshuggah by mixing off-time riffs in with death metal and the occasional use of light keyboards. But unlike Meshuggah they have a knack for playing these riffs sparingly instead of beating them into you head over and over. In this way In-Quest avoids the bland and repetitive sound that makes Meshuggah sound so boring. In-Quest also uses some great melodic guitar lines from time to time, which have an almost inhuman sound, but are still memorable.

This EP contains 4 songs and plays for around 23 minutes, making the average song length almost 6 minutes. These guys aren’t afraid to write long death metal songs, and they get away with it because the riffs are so good and quite varied. The songs are so well written that seem to fly by in much less than the actual playing time. The first song is quite fast with some excellent chug/groove sections. The next song “Scorched” is a 7 minute masterpiece of slow/mid-paced brutality (This song would be rerecorded on Epileptic, but it sounds even better on this EP). The next two songs are similar to the first song with faster sections mixed with the off-time breakdowns and some clips from the Terminator movies thrown in for fun. Overall this cd has a very eerie, anti-human, almost machine like sound, which fits the lyrics and theme of the EP perfectly. The production is superb. The guitars have a slightly rawer feel than on Epileptic and the drums sound heavy as fuck. Sven’s vocal performance is hard to match. He varies his voice from his normal Aborted style growls to screams and even spoken word sections. The drumming is very tight and fits the guitar playing perfectly.

Not only is this EP is just a taste of what In-Quest would release on their full length Epileptic, but if it weren’t for it’s short length it would be even better then Epileptic.

With their unique sound and expertly written songs and riffs In-Quest have taken over as the best modern death metal band out there right now, bar none.

It's time for some insane headdbanging, In-Quest are back with their destroying sense of music. They took nearly three years since their last album but it was worth the wait and with their new vocalist who also screamed/growled for Aborted, "Destination: Pyroclasm" gets even better!

The first song is a fucking bomb that joins death metal, grindcore, melodies and atmospherical pieces to a devastating attack. There are a lot bands who try to combine a lot different parts to one unit but In-Quest are one of the few bands who really can unite brutal double bass attacks and melodic metal sequences.

And this was just the first song...the second one features much more the atmospherical side of In-Quest's music, with extraterrestrial guitar playing, they take you on a journey to unseen musical places. One guitarist plays moshy and the other plays playful "happy" riffs and after over 5 minutes they throw in straight metal to finalize that 7-minute long smasher!

Then they offer a pure and straight death metal attack with sweet melodies and some black metal riffs and the last song is in the same vein. Four songs that can't be unheard and I'm wondering WHY none of the big metal labels have signed them because In-Quest is one of the best European metal bands! I can't wait to hear the new album!

Perhaps one of Belgium’s most innovative and underrated extreme metal bands returns after a few years of silence. The addition of new vocalist Sven De Caluwé (Aborted, Leng Tch’e) and guitarist Douglas Verhoeven heralded a new era for In-Quest and the birth of their latest musical effort known as “Destination : Pyroclasm”. First thing what immediately catches the attention is the improved band-logo and the professional production courtesy of the CCR Studios. Musically speaking In-Quest delivers 4 tracks of highly original technical death metal whereas the lyrical content still focuses on warfare, in this case: apocalyptic warfare and the struggle for survival. ‘Stahlmacht : Destruction Unbound’ has influences from early Fear Factory in its catchy rhythms while the structure of riffs regularly remind of Meshuggah. ‘Scorched : A Reign Of Fire’ is the slowest track on the record and the opening riff even remind of My Dying Bride’s ‘Edenbeast’. On the successing track ‘Sequence 2171 : Dehumanized’ we are introduced to a classic sample of the James Cameron sci-fi epic “Terminator 2” which fits the track perfectly. Closing the album is a re-take of - the “Operation : Citadel” track - ‘Battle Domination’, in which vocalist Sven De Caluwé rightfully proves his versatility as a singer. Mentionworthy is the fact that In-Quest re-instates the use of guitar-solo’s again. Strongly recommended for fans of technical and brutal death metal alike.