Belgian fleshgod machines
-- InHuman --
09/02/2021
Stijn Daneels
Album genres:
| ■ | Symphonic metal |
| ■ | Death Metal |
Album artists:
| ■ | Dietwin Elbers | Vocals |
| ■ | Eline Van De Putte | Vocals |
| ■ | Astrid Kaiserman | Keyboards |
| ■ | Romain Caudron | Guitars |
| ■ | Eerik Maurage | Guitars |
| ■ | Julien Huyssens | Bass |
| ■ | Yuki Takano | Drums |
Review
written by Stijn “Metal Shredder” Daneels.
Then Inhuman’s debut release heads to the single “The Chosen Cancer,” a hard-hitting barrage of symphonic keyboards, harsh guitars, choirs and rough male & angelic female vocals. It’s a catchy and multilayered melody. Next up is “Clockwork In The Past,” another single released beforehand in order to promote the album and one which we reviewed in the past (read it here: https://www.belgianmetalshredder.be/reviews/245). Compared to the earlier track, this tune is more guitar and drum driven and therefore feels even heavier. Then comes “Unfolded,” another aggressive track which shares many elements with thrash and death metal and a touch of metalcore, featuring frantic blast beats, raging male vocals and operatic female vocals and even some piano backed breakdowns.
The album continues into “The Day I Died,” a longer and slower track with some sweet progressive touches aside Inhuman’s usual death and symphonic traits. Then comes “Unbearably Human,” which is a pretty bluesy foundation on top of the choir singing, crunchy guitar riffs and meticulous piano tunes. “For The Life Of Me” is another furious track, which deals with mental breakdowns, represented by the hectic beats and the convincing vocals, each line delivery full of despair.
“No Bullet Required” is a sweet classical metal tune with a beautiful guitar solo and symphonies that could fit very well in a Castlevania game. “Lullaby (Casus Belli)” is a short intro which features a mother softly singing a slightly menacing lullaby to her baby as violins and pianos gently play in the background. Then comes the real track, “Casus Belli,” the longest song on the album. Full of epic symphonies, vivid chanting, vicious blasts and riffs along with melodic sections and duels between guitars and keyboards. The album eventually ends with the instrumental “Home,” one last barrage of symphonic death metal power.
To describe Inhuman’s complex sound isn’t easy, but I would call it as a mix between Fleshgod Apocalypse’s cinematic symphonies and Machine Head’s technical guitar distortions and with ingredients from other metal subgenres sprinkled throughout. Vocalists Dietwin and Eline have a lot of musical chemistry together, with the former focusing on extreme death & black metal vocals and the latter singing in a more traditional symphonic metal voice. The album features plenty of duets between both vocalists and this, like the symphonic tunes and harsh metal beats, gives the Inhuman material a great sense of duality. The other band members’ all get plenty of individual opportunities to shine throughout the release, making this a nicely balanced experience.
If you enjoyed Inhuman during their Anwynn days then I’m pretty confident that these guys and gals will entertain you just as well. Anwynn’s style is still quite present in this new Inhuman sound, but bigger, better and badder!
[METAL SHREDDER REPORTING]
I was aware of Inhuman’s existence for a few years now (dating back to when they were still called Anwynn). In late 2019 I shredded future Inhuman founder Astrid (read it here: https://www.belgianmetalshredder.be/interviews/130) and in 2020 I was quick to hear the news that Anwynn was reincarnated into Inhuman. And with Inhuman’s eponymous debut album coming in a couple of weeks I couldn’t resist the temptation to shred this once well in advance![SHREDDING BASICS]
Inhuman’s self-titled debut album is released independently and sent to us by our longtime Dutch allies called Hard Life Promotion. The album’s intro is a Hans Zwimmer esque opening with horns, piano, drums, guitars, orchestra and chants. Quite an intense and cinematic start to the album and I sure as hell like it!Then Inhuman’s debut release heads to the single “The Chosen Cancer,” a hard-hitting barrage of symphonic keyboards, harsh guitars, choirs and rough male & angelic female vocals. It’s a catchy and multilayered melody. Next up is “Clockwork In The Past,” another single released beforehand in order to promote the album and one which we reviewed in the past (read it here: https://www.belgianmetalshredder.be/reviews/245). Compared to the earlier track, this tune is more guitar and drum driven and therefore feels even heavier. Then comes “Unfolded,” another aggressive track which shares many elements with thrash and death metal and a touch of metalcore, featuring frantic blast beats, raging male vocals and operatic female vocals and even some piano backed breakdowns.
The album continues into “The Day I Died,” a longer and slower track with some sweet progressive touches aside Inhuman’s usual death and symphonic traits. Then comes “Unbearably Human,” which is a pretty bluesy foundation on top of the choir singing, crunchy guitar riffs and meticulous piano tunes. “For The Life Of Me” is another furious track, which deals with mental breakdowns, represented by the hectic beats and the convincing vocals, each line delivery full of despair.
“No Bullet Required” is a sweet classical metal tune with a beautiful guitar solo and symphonies that could fit very well in a Castlevania game. “Lullaby (Casus Belli)” is a short intro which features a mother softly singing a slightly menacing lullaby to her baby as violins and pianos gently play in the background. Then comes the real track, “Casus Belli,” the longest song on the album. Full of epic symphonies, vivid chanting, vicious blasts and riffs along with melodic sections and duels between guitars and keyboards. The album eventually ends with the instrumental “Home,” one last barrage of symphonic death metal power.
To describe Inhuman’s complex sound isn’t easy, but I would call it as a mix between Fleshgod Apocalypse’s cinematic symphonies and Machine Head’s technical guitar distortions and with ingredients from other metal subgenres sprinkled throughout. Vocalists Dietwin and Eline have a lot of musical chemistry together, with the former focusing on extreme death & black metal vocals and the latter singing in a more traditional symphonic metal voice. The album features plenty of duets between both vocalists and this, like the symphonic tunes and harsh metal beats, gives the Inhuman material a great sense of duality. The other band members’ all get plenty of individual opportunities to shine throughout the release, making this a nicely balanced experience.
If you enjoyed Inhuman during their Anwynn days then I’m pretty confident that these guys and gals will entertain you just as well. Anwynn’s style is still quite present in this new Inhuman sound, but bigger, better and badder!