US band INCITE was formed back in 2004, and from their Arizona base they have been exploring their very own brand of metal for a decade already, with three full length albums and numerous live performances to their name, and as far as the latter is concerned they have shared the stage with many name bands too. “All Out War” is their second album, and was released in 2012 through Minus Head Records and Graviton Music Services.
When you name your album “All Out War” and your chosen turf is metal, you will have some expectations as far as the content is concerned. And I would guess that these are fulfilled rather perfectly with opening cut The Aftermath here. Loud, brutal and in your face riff barrages, high pace and intensity and without any pretensions on being anything along the lines of quirky, sophisticated or otherwise creating material that needs contemplation. This is thrash metal that emphasize intensity and aggression through and through, a solid and relentless wall of metal. Which, pretty much, sums up this entire album experience too really.
The dominant aspect throughout, and the element that most likely will decide whether or not you enjoy the exploits of Incite, are the vocals of vocalist Richie. He has perfected a raspy, shouted vocal style somewhere in between hardcore inspired aggressive shouts and black metal growling, perhaps with more of an emphasis on the former, and as far as aggression goes he’ll have few true competitors around when it comes to sounding like a driven, raging and angry man.
The music itself becomes a bit more sophisticated as this album unfolds though. It’s still relentless thrash metal that tries to pummel you into submission by throwing massive riff barrages with the intensity of a Mount Everest sized avalanche on top of your heads admittedly, but there is variation at hand. Harmony and melody too at that, with both melodic overlays and riff movements that creates subtle but distinct melodies used. Pace and intensity tends to have multiple shifts within each of the compositions, ranging from a slow paced, majestic sound that indicates a certain affection for or knowledge about NWOBHM of the kind that Saxon used to explore at the slowest, and with a pacier thrash variety of that revolving around intricate galloping riff, bass and drums in tight interplay as the second gear while the following ones are closer to what bands like Possessed or perhaps Sodom explored in their earliest years. The similarities mainly limited to the pace and intensity department, although for the former I do think I hear trace elements of similar dynamics between the rhythms department and the guitar work. I might be mistaken when it comes to that though, since a few decades have gone by since I explored Possessed in any extensive manner.
I’ll have to admit that the relentless aggression of the lead vocals on this album just isn’t quite my kettle of fish. For me this becomes too much, especially when the songs are fairly vocal heavy, and while I was really intrigued by the underlying instrument arrangements the constant and relentless vocals attack became a detrimental aspect of this album for me. Which doesn’t make it a bad album at all, merely one with certain aspects that doesn’t appeal to me personally. This is a very well made and performed production of that kind, and when listening closely it’s easy to tell that the instrumentalists in this band are of high quality too. While not quite catering for my tastes, this is a strong production that merits an inspection by just about anyone with an interest in high aggression and high intensity thrash metal, and especially by those who are fond of aggressive, shouted lead vocals within that particular context.
My rating: 70/100
