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In The Fire - Volatile Beings review




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11 users:
6.82
Band: In The Fire
Album: Volatile Beings
Release date: February 2019


01. Feral
02. The Devil In The Mirror
03. Into Battle
04. Channel
05. In The Fire
06. Techno-Sociopathic De-Evolution
07. Inside Out
08. The Poisoned Rye

This is a magnificent album for those who complain that thrash metal is stale and repetitive.

Hailing from Pennsylvania, In The Fire is a project of Ryan Moll (Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, Total Fucking Destruction, Azure Emote) who wrote the music and lyrics, and basically did everything in this album -vocals, guitars, bass, keys- apart from playing drums; the latter task was left to his bandmate in Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, Patrick Battaglia. The music is described by the band as "a maddening assault of banshee cries, pummeling debris, and lacerating riffage."

Sounds like an exaggeration? Well, it is not, it is rather an understatement.

Volatile Beings is a totally enthralling debut that is predominantly blackened, technical death/thrash, but it also adds generous pinches of other styles to the Death-/Mercyful Fate-/Vektor-filled cauldron and let me tell you that, up until now, the only band I have heard pulling off something like this with success is Deceased.

Almost all songs in this record are stellar. Openers "Feral" and "The Devil In The Mirror" are constantly changing direction and speed, with awesome solos scattered everywhere and pulverising riffs coming from left, right and centre. "Into Battle" starts with an Iron Maiden-esque lead guitar, but soon disguises into a U.S. power metal assault that Iced Earth fans will immensely appreciate. "Channel" is a classic heavy metal anthem with some melodeath edge and probably my favourite track on the album. Towards the end of Volatile Beings you come across "Inside Out", a double-faced beast, half being a blackened hardcore aggressor and the other half a dark, mid-paced heavy metal ripper. Finally, "The Poisoned Rye" is a doom-laden, progressive and epic closer, the longest track in the album, featuring both clean and harsh vocals.

Speaking of vocals, I found these to be an acquired taste. In all fairness, I learned to appreciate them because the music was so good, just like I've done in the past with Vektor, for example. The guitar work, on the other hand, is immediately recognized as mind-blowing, with powerful riffs attacking from all directions and exquisite solos, and during the album's 35-minute runtime, there were very few moments that I could do without. Sometimes the ever-changing character of the songs seemed overwhelming and my undivided attention was needed in order to find out where they were going, but I guess that is something to expect when things get a bit too technical and complex.

This is not your typical thrash album and needs more than one listen to fully grasp it. So, if you want to step outside your restricting thrash box, but still remain metal as fuck, give this album a chance. It's dark, it's energetic, it's melodic, it's multifaceted, and it is good enough to make you drop everything else you are doing right now and start thrashing.

What are you waiting for? Jump in the fire.





Written on 01.05.2019 by Only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud!


Comments

Comments: 8   Visited by: 68 users
02.05.2019 - 06:33
Rating: 5
Malignar

Yikes, they are clearly american metal. I'm american and these type of bands have made me lose hope in american metal over the past twenty years. Superior technical skills with cringeworthy influences (cheesy power, tech death, In flames, wimpy bad hardcore, hints of screamo and the worst parts of generic bay area thrash)...ugh.

Good guitar skills and solos. I feel for these guys, we have been assaulted with the influences, I mentioned above, for many years. See a live band without at least one opener without the above influences, is impossible over here.
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03.05.2019 - 14:24
Starvynth
i c deaf people
'Thrash Metal' is anything but a good catchword to arouse my curiosity. Shame on me, but I've never really been a fan of the genre, basically due to the typical high-pitched vocals and antiquated guitar solos. It's just not my cup of tea.

Talking about catchwords, nikarg used "blackened", "enthralling", "dark" and "doom-laden" - and these buzzwords and the Deceased reference f#cken did awake my interest.
To make it short: I really love this album. The tremendously varied vocals are the biggest brownie point for me (did I even hear some Dani Filth-ish vocals in the opening track?) and my personal highlight is "The Poisoned Rye" - killer song.

Shit, the last Thrash/Death hybrid I enjoyed that much was Defleshed's Reclaim The Beat - and that was in 2005.

Quote:
This is a magnificent album for those who complain that thrash metal is stale and repetitive.

Signed.
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04.05.2019 - 00:33
nikarg

Written by Starvynth on 03.05.2019 at 14:24

To make it short: I really love this album. The tremendously varied vocals are the biggest brownie point for me (did I even hear some Dani Filth-ish vocals in the opening track?) and my personal highlight is "The Poisoned Rye" - killer song.

Shit, the last Thrash/Death hybrid I enjoyed that much was Defleshed's Reclaim The Beat - and that was in 2005.

I'm pleased someone else enjoyed it as much as I did, man. For me this is one of these "under the radar" releases that very few people will listen and I am not saying this in an elitist way whatsoever. It's just the way it is. There are very few reviews of this on the internet and I am very satisfied we have one here.

Ryan Moll told me that this is just the first part of stuff he has already written. The second part is ready to be recorded with Mike Heller (Raven, Fear Factory) on drums and is scheduled to be released next year.

I need to check out Defleshed I guess.
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04.05.2019 - 01:39
Starvynth
i c deaf people
Written by nikarg on 04.05.2019 at 00:33

Ryan Moll told me that this is just the first part of stuff he has already written. The second part is ready to be recorded with Mike Heller (Raven, Fear Factory) on drums and is scheduled to be released next year.

I need to check out Defleshed I guess.

That is good news!

But never trust Thrash recs if they come from a non-fan. I have become used to being in the minority, old-school thrashheads will most probably not like Defleshed.
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04.05.2019 - 08:21
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Quote:
This is not your typical thrash album and needs more than one listen to fully grasp it. So, if you want to step outside your restricting thrash box, but still remain metal as fuck, give this album a chance. It's dark, it's energetic, it's melodic, it's multifaceted, and it is good enough to make you drop everything else you are doing right now and start thrashing.

What are you waiting for? Jump in the fire.


Hell yeah, I'm ready.
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04.05.2019 - 17:23
nikarg

Written by Cynic Metalhead on 04.05.2019 at 08:21

Hell yeah, I'm ready.

Let me know what you think once you've listened
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08.05.2019 - 16:32
Ivan Drago

That's some top rate music, shame the artwork is so utterly uninspired
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30.10.2020 - 05:54
Rating: 8
tintinb

I really loved the music. The riffs are delicious especially in feral and inside out. The last song wasn't typically thrash but it fit the album well.
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Leeches everywhere.
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