The first time I heard this new record from Swedes Inevitable End I confess that I had to double-check if I placed the right album on rotation. The transformation between “The Oculus” and previous record “The Severed Inception” is so huge that it’s hard to believe that we’re talking about the same band. I personally think this album is a major step forward for the band, because not only the Swedes have evolved towards a more intense, mature and technical sound, but the new songs also reveal a greater personality.

The first couple of themes, namely “Tell Us, Parasites”, “Escaping the Black Hole” and “Zen” transports us into a Dillinger Escape Plan universe, an absolutely decimating and complex sound with lots of technical details, which works actually.

David Alexandre

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“Until Fear No Longer Defines Us” is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2009's stellar “Isolation Songs”, and despite starting off with a breathtakingly beautiful and entirely acoustic song “In the Woods”, the rest of the album falls in line with the band's previous output.

The Finns sound has always been about contrasts, especially the one between light and darkness, and each song on this record sees soothing and beautiful melodies contrasting against bursts of rampant energy, constantly creating an emotional tension that never erupts. In one minute, they sound really mournful and introspective, and in the next one they offer some raging and intense moments, all this with a swaggering level of confidence. First single “Clawmaster”, really emphasizes the remarkable dichotomy that characterizes most of the album.

Luca Niero

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Everyone knows the lyric’s to Edwin Star’s classic War (What Is It Good For) War/ Huh/ Yeah/ What is it good for/ Absolutely Nothing. This may not be strictly true as Warbringer have taken their musical and lyrical influence from wartime and have done now for 3 full albums.

The main focus here is on the brutal assault of the ears with their violent brand of thrash metal. Most songs on the album are blisteringly heavy and fast, but with no two songs ever sounding exactly the same, there is enough variety here to keep the fans banging their heads well after the first play. With tracks such as Living Weapon and Wake Up… Destroy being two good example of the more heavy side, they literally pour energy into the listener’s ears.

James Merrett

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Scratch the Surface Magazine | New issue out featuring interviews with GHOST BRIGADE, EARTH CRISIS, NOVEMBERS DOOM, TOMBS and KVELERTAK.

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Next issue: Textures, The Konsortium, Iron Lamb, Skirmish, Fleshred, Mors Subita and more.