© Rokarola Records 2001
POLLUTED INHERITANCE
Into Darkness
My god, it was difficult to get my hands on this disc. No on-line vendors could obtain it for a remotely reasonable price, and, of course, no one had it up for trade. I contacted the band’s guitarist/vocalist Ronald Camonier to hit him up for the CD, and even he did not have extra copies from the label! Luckily, he was eventually able to obtain a few extra discs, and I was able to purchase Into Darkness. I was seriously jonesing for the CD because I had recently gotten into their previous release, Betrayed. Betrayed came out in 1996, and I had it in my collection for some time, but I had not been able to appreciate it much. Chris’s (editor of The End Times) review of Betrayed inspired me to listen to the CD again, and I have been very grateful ever since. Being the huge fan of Progressive/Technical Death Metal that I am, I don’t know why I had initially not been impressed by Betrayed, but my attitude has since changed considerably. The riffage on Betrayed alternates between being relatively straightforward (yet quite good) and impressively intricate, recalling a more complex version of latter day DEATH at times. However, the drumming of Friso Van Wijck is nothing short of amazing on Betrayed. His performance is truly one of the best I have ever heard. Regardless of what the guitar and bass are doing at any given time, the drums are consistently all over the place with awesome fills and odd time changes.I have gone into all this detail about Betrayed because I inevitably compare a band’s latest release with their previous work, and, although I like Into Darkness, I am somewhat disappointed in the approach the band took on the disc. Ronald Camonier told me that, on Into Darkness, the band wanted to create a mix of Betrayed and their debut, Ecocide. I believe they were successful in doing so. Ecocide is pretty much a Traditional Death Metal release, and Betrayed is a Progressive Death Metal release. Consequently, the musical complexity on Into Darkness is not what I had hoped it would be. Most of the riffage on Into Darkness is midpaced and groove oriented, and is often not overly catchy. At its best, the guitar reminds me of midpaced, latter day DEATH, but it unfortunately never approaches levels of technical craziness. Even more disappointing, the drumming, while still good, has been significantly simplified. It is no longer manic, and often just provides a relatively standard backbone for most of the songs.
My favorite songs on Into Darkness include "Free to Be" with its faster, more involved riffing, and "Endless Time" which features some cool off-kilter time changes and impressive drumming, although the groove sections of the song detract from my enjoyment of it as a whole. Many other songs contain interesting sections that feature catchier riffs or more involved drumming, but these moments do not account for the majority of the disc’s running time. I will mention one of these moments though. Into Darkness has the unique status of possessing an acoustic intro that is actually quite cool! Most intros are absolutely pointless tracks that neither provide a nice atmosphere nor impress you with guitar playing. The first minute of the opening track, "Broken", however, provides both of these things. The acoustic guitar is interesting and ends with abrupt, jarring downstrokes which lead immediately into the heavy electric guitar riffage. Good stuff.
I believe that Polluted Inheritance has created a CD that will be more readily accepted by the Death Metal community. It is definitely easier than Betrayed to get into, and I think many people will appreciate that. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. However, I do like the disc and recommend it to fans of both Traditional and Progressive Death Metal. Just don’t expect something very similar to Betrayed. Please check the band out at their homepage
Editor's rating: 7
Contributed by John Frank
