Instil "Fire Reflects in Ashes" CD
[Garden of Exile]
The band name sort of had me expecting something more hardcore oriented, but instead this is modern metalcore hailing from The Netherlands, mixing a melodic Swedish style with a moshier chugga chugga angle. It's nothing new at all, and I've heard better, but this is okay for what it is. The most annoying thing about the release is that the guitars are slightly out of tune, so during the most pronounced dual guitar harmonies there's a lot of clashing notes going on and it sounds fairly unprofessional. The performances need tightening up as well, but that's not a big deal with this one. I actually really like some of the churning midpaced heaviness such as the opening of "To the Manner Born", but sadly many of the Swedish influences are really bland tremolo picking riffs and such. In the title track things come off as more energetic and memorable, so that works, but too often it feels like the band's not pushing for enough creativity. At times they'll blend in some caustic dissonance or flurried technical runs, but overall it's the straightforward midpaced heaviness and more energetic pacing that sticks with me. "Chimera" is a totally generic Swedish metalcore track but the riffs are well composed so it's among the stronger songs, and "Transient" opens with acoustic guitars for one of the only breathers of the entire disc before reverting to the usual tremolo picking stuff; while the slightly slower "Devoid of Guarantees" lets the dual guitar work become more emphatic and is actually a pretty fuckin' good song (albeit the tapping is really sloppy). At the end of the disc after the obligatory break of silence is an unlisted cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down", which is a pretty surprising choice. It's not half bad either, though maybe that's its kitsch value, heh. The recording's also too raw, but not so bad. The drums are a little thin and punchy so they feel separated from everything else, but the guitars and bass lock together well. The bass is really dense so it forces its way to the center, and the guitar tone does have a cool texture to it that would be great if the performances were dead on and the tuning was in check. The screaming vocals sound okay, but kind of seem distracting, so I think the mix needs a bit of added clarity to keep things together while giving the instruments room to breathe. Visually this one looks fucking great though, with tons of fiery/ashen coloring against charred textures, decorative high contrast designs, crazy text arrangements, a couple of live photos, etc. The lyrics are somewhat abstract but seem to hint at socio-political matters with a few references to freedom and the ideas of greed and corruption or selfishness, though the message isn't totally clear in the end, which is fine with me as it leaves more room for interpretation. "The art of dying to remember to live, Extinguished desire the highest ever reached, But creatures to the manner born, Unlearned adventures withhold in dreaming, Granting uniqueness is losing, In the end we are all the same..." I don't know, this is middle of the road material for me. "Devoid of Guarantees" points to the band having some writing talent, and there are other scattered riffs that I really enjoy, but as a whole they definitely need to practice playing as tight as possible to make their future efforts more convincing. (5/10)
Running time - 45:00 (approximately), Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Chimera, Devoid of Guarantees]
Garden of Exile Records - http://www.gardenofexile.nl

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