Revealed and Worshipped

Damn, I still remember when I first heard “We Did Not Come To Heal”. I was watching some television (“Metalhead Night on The Box – I remember it clear as hell), and just then it was that Insision’s clip of said number past by, and I was instantly hooked. Now, a few years later, I am still hooked on it as on no album before and will be so until their next one (“Ikon”) comes out; which should be somewhere in April.

Insision is one of those bands that really deserves public attention instead of all those mallcore-crap bands. Here we have four young men that make Death Metal as if it came from America. Yes, Insision has a decidedly non-Swedish sound!
Their music is fast and sounds like a (wonderful!) mix between the riffs of Morbid Angel, the speed and brutality of Cannibal Corpse and the technicality and songwriting from Cryptopsy. I am very much tempted to say that this is the best Death Metal band mix, ever.

The songs themselves are well structured and Carl Birath delivers a great job on both the lyrics and the vocals – which brings me to downside number one. Carl has a very powerful grunt but he lacks a lot of variation. Here and there a high pitched scream, and I was totally overwhelmed by the last shout of “Revolt!” in the closing song (“The Ideas of Revolution”) but it gets boring after a while, even for me – Insision fan boy number one. The lyrics are very “non-Death Metalish” [sic]. Dealing with themes as inner demons and drawing a lot of inspiration from Lovecraft’s stories (which are mainly dark, grim visions of lands far away and aeons before Man walked the earth) they are very fresh and original – a great break from the (far too regular) Death Metal frenzy of torture, rape, abominations and gore.

Roger and Toob brought us an awesome set off riffs. Especially Roger knows very well how to play his stuff – fast, energetic and very original. Insision has a very groovy sound and this only does them good; especially on tracks like “Havoc” and “Ideas of Revolution. Also the bass guitar, played by Daniel Ekeroth, blends in perfectly with everything and adds a certain atmosphere to the whole album that’s saying: “We did NOT come to heal!”. But, the riffing is what gets me to downside number two as well. A lot of the riffs are pretty much copied from the albums that Insision draws so much inspiration from. The intro of “In the Gallows” is near identical to the intro from “Ageless, still I am” (Morbid Angel) and the riff from “Imminent Vision” (clocking in at 1:05) sounds a lot like the riff from Cryptopsy’s “Slit Your Guts” starting at 1:28. Nonetheless, Roger and Toob have quite a few awesome tricks up their sleeves and they really know how to handle a guitar. But, the stolen riffs don’t take too much of the fun away; the riffs (most of them, anyway) they did write themselves sound incredibly good and – above all – very new.

The drumming isn’t outstanding or excelling at any point, but it could be worse. If only Thomas had used his snare a little less and wrote some more varying drumlines, it would make this record far better than it is right now. But, regardless of the lack of variation, Thomas plays very well. He has a lot of speed in his hands and I think he would have been very able to progress into a far better drummer… if only he had stayed with Insision a little longer.

As of production, there isn’t much to comment about. All the instruments are clearly distinguishable, but at certain points the drums sound a little too overpowered (especially on “The Ideas Of Revolution” – the intro sounds like a plain drum solo). All instruments blend together very well and (an important point for me) the vocals are very clear, even though Carl isn’t the best man out there when it comes to making words understandable and distinguishable. But the clear vocals do help a lot and after reading the lyrics a couple of times, you are sure to understand most he’s saying.

All in all, this album very much worth your while if you like Death Metal. Insision is not the most accessible band of them all and, as with Cryptopsy, you have to be into the Death Metal scene for quite a while to really respect their music. Apart from the stolen riffs and uninspired drumming, this is a great album and shouldn’t be missed out by any die-hard Death Metal (or Insision) fan.

Stand-out tracks: Imminent Vision, We Did Not Come To Heal, Havoc, The Ideas of Revolution.

Holy shit, this is intense! That's all I can think of saying. "Revealed And Worshipped" just runs over and rapes everything in its path like a bulldozer for 34 minutes. And to think these guys are actually swedish. Finally a reason to be proud over the extreme metal in my country.

In a scene so full of Gothenburg crap, Insision play brutal US styled Death Metal in the vein of Suffocation and Hate Eternal with a slight Gore influence. This is certainly not for those with sensitive ears. There's no melody to be found here in any form. And there isn't a need for any, because the riffing ideas as well as the songwriting aspect is strong enough. These guys have one goal, and that's brutality. They sure achieved it.

If the insane tempo of the instruments wasn't enough, Carl Birath's vocal delivery is totally sick. He sounds more like he's regurgitating than growling. You can rarely decipher what he's actually saying, and it fits perfectly with the rest of the soundscape. Brutality is once again the law.

The songs are also well crafted enough to remain memorable. Tracks like "The Foul Smell of Humans" with its thrash-infused rhythms and "We Did Not Come To Heal" with its weird lead guitar parts are sure to raise some eyebrows. "The Cleansing" is another great headbanger that starts out with a Morbid Angel inspired midtempo intro before going into high gear with some insane blastbeats and more sick growls from Birath.

"Revealed And Worshipped" is surely a CD that should be appreciated by fans of brutal Death Metal. The brutality is here, so is the musicianship and songwriting.

“Foul smelling and festering, Death Metal should always provoke revulsion in the sane. Insision’s sick tech-riffs and barbaric blastfests cripple the senses, whilst any thoughts of melody and banished by the rabid vokill onslaught.” -Taken from the sampler I have.

If it’s one thing that Insision got right, it’s everything said in the quote above. Now this is how death metal should be! This album is sheer brutality with no sign of melodies within miles! The vocals are sick as hell, sounding almost like the guy is puking out his internal organs. Hell, everything is just sick about this album… but is that a good thing?

Well, this certainly is a return to relentless death metal in the vein of Hate Eternal and Vomitory. The problem with most “death metal” bands today is that they incorporate… well melodies! Also, they don’t possess the heaviness that death metal was once known for, and doesn’t have the crazy leads and chords in the guitar work. As I said, Insision brings back the good ole’ brutal and barbaric death metal we all (should) know and love. Though, because it’s nothing but brutality, this album can get boring after the first three tracks. I’m a huge fan of extreme metal, but damn, these guys’ needs to chill out with the dosage of crunching riffs and blast beats because it’s just too much for the word “extreme” itself.

As I said, the first three tracks should drug you up with enjoyable brutality. No bullshit intros are needed on the album for the first track “No Belief.” It’s just a scream and crushing riffs that tell you, “We’re Insision, and we are here to kick your scrawny ass!” You can tell right from here that there will be no sign of a string played that’ll be soft or weak. It’s really enjoyable to first hear the music, reminding you of the good days of brutal death metal… it’s barbaric in the sense of consztant blast beats and grinding riff work. Okay, well next up is “Imminent Vision” and for brutal music, these guys know how to make something catchy. The riffs in this song are just plain old catchy; unlike the last track where there was nothing but blast beats and blasphemy. “We Did Not Come To Heal” is the highlight of the CD with its “cute” solo in the beginning. I say it’s cute because with the brutal music blasting, you hear this small solo over it, which isn’t necessarily melodic, but it just catches you by surprise. This is yet another catchy track, where it’s not a speed demon, but mid-paced insanity.

Once you get up to track three, you’ll hear a interlude called “Revealed And Worshipped,” and it gets you wondering why was this not placed as an intro to the CD? This can be a sign of bad things to come… and it is a sign, because when the pointless interlude finishes, up comes more sheer brutality. This time, it gets real boring and real repetitive… well at least for me. It’s more blast beats… yawn… more crushing riffs… yawn… and… zZzZz… Yeah it’s kind of like that with the rest of the tracks; it’s just too much madness with all the speed and low-tuned guitar/bass work. Not to mention that the vocals are kind of monotonous with no range in the grunts.

What’s my suggestion for you if you want to buy this CD and listen to it? Place the CD into your boom box or whatever you have, and each time you listen to the CD, pick only three tracks to listen to because after three listens, the CD will… and I mean WILL sound very redundant. I highly recommend to listen to the first three tracks only, and then after that, save the rest of the listen for another time. Good thing for me I got the sampler version and didn’t waste so much money on the actual CD. If you really love pure brutal death metal, and death metal done the old school heavy way without bullshit melodies and clean vocals, then this is your kind of band to check out.

This is definitely not for my liking… I mean let’s be real, there’s a thin line between extreme music and boring music.

Ear Catchers: Imminent Vision, We Did Not Come To Heal

Well....

As if 'Beneath The Folds Of Flesh' didn't have enough of a hype buzz around it ensuring it's memory among extreme metal fans all over, Insision have gone even further.

Now, I'm not normally a person that's into the usual "brutal death metal" peddled by the likes of Immolation et al, preferring some DM with either some groove or definative technicality to latch onto.
Somehow Insision manage to not just do both, but they do it in a damn good way, mixing certain brutality with somewhere hidden under the murky surface an old-school grooveathon giving everyone something to love about this album.

The fourth track's spoken nature does kind of detract from the overwhelming freight-train with no wheels like momentum built up until that point, but you can forgive such minor blips when this is about as pure extreme metal as I've heard so far this year.

Deicide and Morbid Angel may like to think that they're still the godfathers of Death Metal - especially considering the size of Glenn Benton's considerable ego - but if this record doesn't severely elevate Insision in terms of respect, exposure and general appreciation, then quite frankly the world doesn't deserve a band that can bludgeon you senseless yet actually make you want to not stop but hit you harder and harder.

Quite simply buy this album if you claim to like death metal. I guarantee you won't regret it.

FINALLY!!! Death metal seems to really come back with an great amount of amazing albums this year and Insision present one of them with "Revealed And Worshipped". Unrelenting death metal in the vein of Suffocation just with a sicker vocalist! They mainly rage with an unholy fast sound but they often throw in melodic guitar leads but through the low growled vocals never a harmonic feeling comes up and this is really special because the songs contain a lot melodies but through the vocals and the speed it's an underlying melodic feeling. The fourth and title track "Revealed And Worshipped" is a two minutes interlude where only a man is speaking and with the follower "The Unrest" they start their attack again! Here the rough growls are supported by evil background screams while the guitar players celebrate a melodic massacre that's disturbed by hammering drum and bass sounds and for sure they added double-bass action! I haven't heard such a merciless attack for a long time and with their uncompromising speedful death metal they even outshine Suffocation's new effort. I guess that they left out guitar solos appeals even more to me, they would be just a bugging interception, without them Insision overruns everything with their sheer brutality. At "The Foul Smell Of Humans" they play a few thrash alike rhythms and even added a break with something like an atmospherically solo but as soon as you get used to it they force the speed again! But Insision can do more than just devastate with fast metal, with "The Cleansing" they prove their abilities and offer a Morbid Angel alike progressive song with extraterrestrial guitars. But Insision can't do without the speed so they come back to evil annihilation! Watch out for these guys, they're already one of death metal's finest!
A MUST LISTEN, NOW GET IT (buy it!)!!!