Inhuman “Last Rites” CD

It's always a pleasant surprise when a band that's been around for over a decade can continue to best their prior work time and time again, and such is definitely the case with Brooklyn, NY's Inhuman, whose latest (and arguably best) full-length, "Last Rites" (on I Scream Records), raises the bar once more with 11 tracks in about 32 minutes. Much like "The New Nightmare", this album sees the band maintaining their diverse breadth of influences while continuing to hone in on a more focused approach that makes for some of their most memorable, not to mention powerful, songwriting to date. The heavy, in your face metallic hardcore tracks are heavier and more in your face (the opening title track is an absolutely crushing example of such mastery); the faster, straightforward, energetic hardcore tracks posses more energy ("The Dream is Not Dead", among others); and by contrast the rocked out little lead breaks and increasingly subtle melodic/punk influences act as stronger accents to the big picture when presented in a more refined and restrained manner. I'm really fuckin' impressed by this album all around. Great recording, solid presentation, and when it all comes down to it the songwriting's just killer. So few bands are able to improve with age, much less release their finest material on their fourth album, so... if you wrote them off back in the day or just lost interest along the way, give this record a fair shot regardless... there's a damn good chance it might surprise you, too.

Inhuman "Last Rites" (excerpt)
Inhuman "The Dream is Not Dead"

This one's not officially out until next week, but you can already snag copies directly from the band as we speak. The ordering information's on their MySpace page, so why wait? Seriously, that title track is so fucking good...