Insurrection are a Canadian death metal outfit with a fan base so passionate they were happy to stump up the cash for ‘Prototype’, the band’s third full-length effort, now released on Galy records. From the off it is clear that fans will not be disappointed with their investment. ‘Prototype’ is an album of precision and chrome-plated brutality that will sate the appetite of even the most ravenous riff maniacs out there while there is just enough melody buried deep within the rampaging riffs to keep things memorable.
Featuring ten tracks and a suitably electronica-influenced introduction, the album balances out-and-out aggression with a controlled sense of menace that permeates the tracks and the result is an album that seethes and bristles with barely contained rage. Opening track proper, ‘Abattoir’ is the kind of dry, pared-back death metal that Cavalera Conspiracy deals in, the guitars and drums dashing against each other whilst the potent vocals are ground out with a malevolence that is quite unsettling. With so many bands indulging in various death metal derivatives, most of which only serve to undermine the genre’s essential brutality, it is refreshing to hear a band take it back to basics, eschewing over-the-top production frills for a simple, direct assault that underscores the band’s honesty and commitment. ‘The chronophobes’ is an early highlight with its pummelling percussion and awkward riffs, the latter demonstrating the talent that lies at the heart of the band. ‘Checkmate’ (featured as clip at the base of this review) is a stunning slab of groove and grind that recalls UK purveyors of mayhem The Rotted crossed with Cannibal Corpse whilst ‘Sueurs Froides’ has a truly evil bass-line underscoring its jazzy rhythm and Brujeria-referencing riffs. It’s unflinchingly brutal stuff, the riffs a never-ending maelstrom of violent delight, and if you’ve a hankering for pure, relentless death metal, then Insurrection will satisfy your every sordid whim.
‘Hellfire’ sees the band slow down to a funereal pace for a sludge laden trudge through death metal’s darkest pastures, bringing to mind ‘Gothic’ era Paradise Lost with its scarified rasp and throbbing, distorted bass. ‘Trois minutes de carnage’ fulfils the promise of its title, delivering exactly that via a series of quicksilver riffs and grunted lyrics. Next up is ‘Archetype’ which applies a rhythmic rasp to an instrumentally fascinating track, with the guitars writhing around the verse with a degree of dexterity that the brutal nature of the music initially masks. It’s another album highlight and one that allows you to both headbang till death and appreciate the band’s musical prowess all at once. Straightforward and deadly in intent, the title track is a gleaming instrument of death, the scar-crossed vocals arising out of a mass of searing guitar work. Memorable and almost stately in its delivery, it is a work of epic, imperial evil and highlights, once again, the band’s skill and dedication to their craft. ‘They rise’ maintains the pace as the album draws towards the bloody conclusion of ‘bruits sans fin’, a track that provides a suitably thrilling end to an album that never dips in its unwavering aggression and adrenalin-charged fury.
Overall ‘Prototype’ is an unmitigated success. It shows that a band can, with the support of their fans, continue to develop artistically without having to rely on placing themselves in debt to a label; it highlights the power and precision of Insurrection themselves and it contains not a dull, nor wasted moment. ‘Prototype’ does not push the boundaries of death metal, but in going back to the basics of the genre it avoids the pitfalls of excessive, aggression-killing production and over-analysis and allows the band to concentrate on the songs which gleam in the half-light with pent-up fury and malevolent intent. If you like brutal, honest death metal played with fire and fury, then ‘Prototype’ is most certainly for you.
Check it out for yourself –
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