With 1994’s “Death After Death”, Insanity
became one of many classic underground death metal acts. Though they’ve been
around most of the time in some form or another since that release, they would not release
another full-length until 2015’s “Visions of Apocalypse”. As much as I hate to
admit it, I still haven’t tracked down a copy of their debut, so this release
also marks my introduction to the band. My verdict is somewhat mixed; on the
one hand, the band has captured the aesthetics of 1990s death metal perfectly,
down to even the production. On the other, they lack any sort of unique
identifying quality. This makes it difficult to discern amongst them, or the
legions of other death metal bands out there. After several listens, “Visions of
Apocalypse” has gone in one ear and out the other each time.
Insanity’s strengths are largely the fact
that they’ve done this for a long time. Every riff is unabashed death metal,
without a hint of compromise. Blasting is used, but not overdone. The rhythm
section as a whole provides an extremely bludgeoning effort. Double bass is
relatively consistent throughout the record, as you might expect. The solos are
twisted, and the vocals are perverse. Again though, this is all par for the
course for death metal. At times this release shows a lot of influence
from early Deicide because of the strange leads (“Sociopath” being the best
example). The lead playing is welcomed because the rhythm guitars are a little
bit too muffled. It’s difficult to make out exactly what they’re playing, and
while the cavernous production is appreciated, it is taken a little bit too
far. The band did succeed at making “Visions of Apocalypse” sound like it was
recorded in the 1990s, but they made it sound like an album that was restricted
by its recording budget. This is unlikely to be the case with modern recording
techniques, but the point is that this is an example of a record where trying
to sound authentic ultimately hurts the release.
Aside from the production, “Visions of
Apocalypse” has no technical faults. Even the most intricate parts are played
with astounding precision. The vocals are standard in their approach, but
aggressive enough to get the job done. Once again though, there is nothing to
separate them from any other death metal singer. Ultimately however, the
biggest problem with “Visions of Apocalypse” is just that there’s nothing to
remember it by. You’re better off throwing on a mid-tier Deicide record, but if
you really crave more death metal, this album is likely to satisfy you.
Highlights
All/none
Final Rating
3.2/5 or 64%.
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