Credit to the band first of all for doing something I can’t ever recall seeing before: three of this quintet are actually smiling on the sleeve photo. Inner Earth’s music is described as progressive metal, but whatever the type of metal it seems to be the rule that musicians have to look harassed or threatening. If you’ve gone to the trouble of creating something and hopefully being proud of it, then why shouldn’t you look happy? At this point I had nothing else to go on other than knowing that Inner Earth is a fairly new band and they’re from Germany.
Actually, I also read that there are “influences of Katatonia and Deftones”. I was reminded of this as I listened to “Cinder”, a nice busy track punctuated with emotion and a mix of chunky and rapid technical metal. It’s the singer’s voice and the melancholic moments of “distantly fading fear” – a nice image – which are so much like Renske. There’s a lot here and it’s very interesting. The singer’s voice was a little weak, I thought, on the solid progressive metal piece “Chasing Ghosts”. I really like the deep guitar work. The structure is interesting, both instrumentally and interesting. Inner Earth are not a static band. The songs evolve and develop. The emotion has the intensity of Tom de Wit’s Dreamwalkers Inc, both packing a punch and reflecting vulnerability. After a technically-inspired start, a solid heavy rock wall supports another darkly emotional piece. “The Windrow Scars” again reminded me of Katatonia at their best. The melodies are strong, and provide a solid platform. From gentle rock to heaviness is the order of the day as “Notion” takes us into darker atmospheric territory. The instrumental work is once again flamboyant and the structure imaginative. Again Inner Earth show that they know how to construct a song.
The riff at the start of “Fray” could be mistaken for anything by Mors Principium Est, such is the melody. I couldn’t work out what the song was about. As the singer told his tale, there’s a splendid array of guitar work going on in the background. Both were great but didn’t seem to work with each other. But I liked the adventure, which is captured on the slightly eccentric dark tones of “Daunt a Breath”. There’s almost an air of later Beatles in the freedom of the structures. “Vanished Haze” is another classic song but tinged with a mix of gothic style majesty, drama, depth and dreaminess. It’s an intriguing mix. More technical metal majesty and mystery come in the form of “Elegy of the Black Light”. “Rising walls. Tenderness. Safe haven and inner earth” is what’s written on the band’s site. It’s also a line from the mystical “Sunlit Hours”. It’s a seriously good and inventive progressive metal song, but it’s also gripping and fun. It’s a fantastic song to finish with, and by its joyfulness filled me with happiness and warmth. There are lots of good things about this album but I especially liked the intrigue and playfulness of this one. It was a song I had to play a second time before moving on with my life.
I like this band. The songs on “Arcane State” are fresh. There’s an experimental feel about them, and always a sense of adventure in the structures. The music and themes may be dark and wistful at times, but this album brought me a lot of pleasure and even made me smile.
(8.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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