Punky London/Hastings thrash bootboys Inhuman Nature blast back with long-awaited second full-length.
Now into its fifth decade, thrash is such a mainstay of the metal world that it can be difficult to imagine how visceral it must have sounded on first impact. This is a challenge which London/Hastings quintet Inhuman Nature are well placed to tackle. Their second album Greater Than Death is a riot of violence which eschews slick production or Metallica-chasing choruses in favour of a return to the gritty power of the genre’s ’80s salad days.
Battering ram tunes like Dawn Of Inhuman Man waste no time in establishing their creators’ bloody-minded attitude, lyrically summed up by an intention to ‘Bring down the sword again and again and again…’ The potency of the arsenal deployed throughout grants Inhuman Nature a relevance beyond that of a battle re-enactment, but there’s no denying that a major factor in their appeal lies in recapturing the rawness of early thrash, and its slightly later hardcore-inspired crossover era.
So, Mad Man’s Cage slots right in between classic Slayer and the more modern bludgeon of Power Trip, while Possessed To Die would have fit perfectly blasting out of legendary Bay Area venues Ruthie’s Inn or The Stone back in the day. Mid-album tracks Fortress Of Delusion and Lines In The Sand II temper the tempos (temporarily) before relenting to Inhuman Nature’s irrevocable need for speed. When the latter’s intro is interrupted by a death grunt from singer Chris Barling, you know there’s to be no drop in intensity; indeed, his reliably hostile vocals are a shield against selling out all by themselves.
Greater Than Death is well-named: these 37 minutes offer a walloping reaffirmation of a genre that refuses to die.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Power Trip, Kreator, Slayer
Greater Than Death is released on April 25 via Church Road
