Inhuman "The New Nightmare" CD
[A-F]
It's been awhile since Inhuman's last full-length, but they're back and better than ever, and the new tracks are definitely geared more towards the vicious heavy hardcore direction that their earlier work was hinting at. The record is slightly disjointed since re-recordings of pretty much all of the tracks from the "Black Reign" EP appear herein, so songs like the darker and more melodic/punk influenced "Killing Me" stand out a bit, but "Uprising" and "Darker Than You Think" fit in perfectly with the new songs, which are even heavier and closer to the NYHC sound than the band's first record. Tracks like "Eternal" have that slightly energetic sort of hardcore influence going on, but "Bloodlust", among others, is a two-minute bash fest of killer metalcore with faint hints of dissonance. The dissonant melodies are explored more fully in "Sinister", and these nuances add more to the record than the somewhat gangly (by comparison) punk influenced tracks (what with the singing vocals and such). The instrumental closer, "Nightmare", is well done too, letting bass play a more central role amidst eerie layers of clean guitars and synthscapes. An unlisted cover of The Damned's "New Rose" comes in about a minute after the last track... a fitting cover considering the range of styles displayed throughout the record. If you ask me this is the best Inhuman has ever sounded. The recording is nice and clean with plenty of density to beef things up. The drums aren't as natural as I'd prefer, but they rarely become a distraction since the guitars and bass are dominant elements alongside the vocals. Aside from warmer drum tones, I think all I'd do would be to give the guitars a tad more of a brighter edge in order to let the bass handle more of the defined low-end tones, but that's about it. The layout's not bad. Most everything is black and white with shades of red, and the outer pages of the booklet are printed in red ink on vellum. All of the lyrics are crammed onto two panels in the center of the booklet (which is really all there is), so no space goes to waste. Almost all of the lyrics are pessimistic and deal with personal issues, with one or two tracks touching on the state of the world and such. It's all pretty simple and none of it's groundbreaking, but I'm not bothered by that. This is the best release I've heard from Inhuman, so they're definitely getting better with age. (7/10)
Running time - 28:43, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Uprising, Sinister, Bloodlust]
Inhuman - http://www.inhumanlegion.com

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