Russia is no stranger to Death Metal, Abominable Putridity, Katalepsy, Hieronymus Bosch, 7 H.Target, need I go on? There’s a lot of great bands from this part of the world and they continue to keep coming thick and fast. I’m always pretty eager to check out Russian bands as generally it’s a geographical location that exudes quality, particularly in the Slam department. Couple this with the mighty label that is Gore House Productions and you’ve got enough power there to tempt me with a listen.

This brings us to Russian based Insect Inside. The band formed in 2017, following a single in 2017 and a demo in 2019 it would appear that the bands work has paid off. It’s all paid off of course in the form of the band’s debut full length record The First Shining Of New Genus. It promises lots of big Slam and classic Brutal Death themes so it seems like a perfect listen to me. Can this much promise lead to disappointment though?

The opening Intro is as ominous (and pointless as one might expect), I’ve come to the conclusion that intro songs should only either be hideous samples or actually backed up with music. The opening here is tried, tested and overrated. At least Sickening Ground kicks things up a notch, chunky guitar tone, muddy bass, guttural vocals, rapid drums and thick Slams. This is heavy, atypical of the Slam genre and I like it. Posthumous Grief keeps up the Slam and adds in pinch harmonics and blastbeats aplenty. This groovy little number is a joy to behold. There is an element of Hardcore in the vocals at points during this song, through the influence of one Kevin Muller (Soils Of Fate) I personally enjoy it and it shows that the band take their influences seriously. The title track and For The Glory Of The Swarm continue the Slam trends, nothing out of the ordinary but very good none the less.

The album has all the things a typical Slam fan like myself would want and if you like the genre then you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Derelict Sanity is a pretty huge track, it has a lot of memorable guitar licks and bass pummelling. That loose bass sound is something that really should be amped up more in the current Slam climate. The drumming in Evisceration Through The Throat is also of some note, quite complex patterns dot about the song, although it raises the question of could this have been done a bit more throughout? Adding to this additional flare is the bass in Embalming The Chrysalis, it’s frantic and barbaric and again begs this question of could we have had more of this? Pulsating Eart closes the album with some big punishing Slams, nothing new but still very good.

Excellent songwriting, brilliant dashes of abnormality here and there and a great deal of promise. This is a very strong debut album with a few little flaws here and there. Namely consistency being my main dislike. I think that there are little moments especially in the drums and bass that could have flowed more throughout. This is just me being very picky though, quite honestly it’s still better than a lot of modern Slam and certainly better than the swathes of Slamming Deathcore that we see (nothing against that genre but you can’t beat the real deal). All in all I can see good things in the future for Insect Inside and indeed I wish it for them.

(8/10 George Caley)

https://www.facebook.com/insectinsideslam

https://gorehouseproductions.bandcamp.com/album/the-first-shining-of-new-genus