Band:	Insade
Album:	Human Obsession
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	January 2024

01. Breed The Maggots
02. Lake's Cabin
03. Gnosis
04. La Génitrice
05. Sentenced To Life
06. Celestial Being
07. Human Obsession
08. Boarding/Crosscheck

An aggressive, fast-paced death metal rollercoaster reveals far more depth and variety upon closer inspection.

As is often the case when browsing new releases and deciding on which one I should give a chance, I was drawn to Insade’s Human Obsession thanks to its nightmarish cover art. Seeing Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise and entering a hellscape of charred bodies, amputated limbs, vague stone ruins, and a face soaked in blood, I knew I was in for some Insade insane metal. And, as the first song charged in to beat my eardrums into submission, my expectations of death metal fury were soundly met. Yet, my initial listen was cut short as my ears could not handle the abuse, and I left the album before even finishing the first song. Fortunately, I gave it another go some days later, and, this time, I began to peer beyond the abrasive energy, realizing that there's more to Insade than just run-of-the-mill, old-school death metal.

Insade are a four-piece band hailing from Montreal, Canada. In their sophomore release, Human Obsession, there are a lot of juxtaposing elements to be found beyond the relentless aural storm. Now, don't be mistaken; their style firmly stays in the death metal category, but there's plenty of nuance on display as well. Most notably, the two guitarists also provide the vocals on the album, (presumably) dividing up their duties so that one performs blackened and hardcore-esque yelps, while the other specializes in more standard death metal growls. As a result, the vocal performances of Insade become a very entertaining interplay between rumbling gutturals and deranged, sickened rasps.

But that's just half of the fun. On the instrumental side, you've got the most headbang-inducing, rampaging riffs on the song “Gnosis” (accompanied by some truly unhinged screams of one of the vocalists), whereas the following track “La Génitrice” includes some rather melodic guitar-work despite the retention of harsh vocals. Within “Sentenced to Life”, after two minutes of mindless, fast-paced aggression, the drum beats slow down as the guitars begin to craft a more patient yet ominous atmosphere. “Celestial Being” is perhaps the song with the greatest juxtapositions, as it not only combines monstrous yells, demonic squeals, and cleaner crew shouts, but also simultaneously features the most progressive passages and the most crushing riffs. Even in terms of noise volume levels, Human Obsession delivers a sharp contrast between the calm audio sample of a madman on “Lake's Cabin” and the four minutes of pure dissonant noise on the final track.

In conclusion, Insade provide here a highly entertaining assortment of death metal, ranging from groovy old-school guitar-work and flashy technical licks to more eerie atmospheric passages. There's always a clear drive behind the musicianship, and the relentless battery of the opening “Breed the Maggots” rather effectively launches the listener into the depths of the tracklist, where one finds far more than one could have initially guessed. The open-minded listener who doesn't immediately write off the album as senseless noise will be greatly rewarded. And those who simply enjoy a proper musical beating will surely get their fill as well.