Destinity - The Inside
Rating
RIYL
HypocrisyBloodbath
Darkane
Label
Lifeforce RecordsTracklist
1. My Senseless Theory2. Murder Within
3. Thing I Will Never Feel
4. Still Remember
5. A Thousand Falling Skies
6. Inhuman Corrosive Report
7. Ready To Leave
8. Enemy Process
9. Escaping Reality
10. The Inside
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Even knowing that Destinity are renowned for their brand of melodic death metal, I wasn’t expecting much from The Inside. To be honest, Scar Symmetry’s Holographic Universe has been the most impressive thing I’ve heard in the genre since god knows when. That rarity led me to a simple conclusion: all other melodeath releases this year are going to suck. I was wrong, plain and simple. As a man, I hate – really hate – being wrong, but since The Inside wasn’t getting shoved in my face by a friend who wanted to prove their superiority, I can admit it. I was wrong.
A look at the The Inside’s track listing was a bit misleading as well. Titles like “Murder Within” and “Thing I Will Never Feel” reeked of clichés, and with this, I expected the album to as well. While it may contain all the elements that make the genre what it is – the obvious one being the occasional use of synthesizer – Destinity bring something completely unique to the genre. It’s probably because they’re French. It might sound ignorant, but first think back to other French metal bands that have received exposure in North America. Alright, so the only one that really comes to mind is Gojira, but that’s good enough for me. Think of what they did for death metal and apply that to melodic death metal. That’s what Destinity sound like. Kind of.
Opening track “My Senseless Theory” is a hell of a way to start an album. Not only does it set the mood for the album, but it also has a nod towards the aforementioned Gojira in one of the riffs. The unexpected piano outro is fantastic as well. If it doesn’t do your ears any favours, don’t waste your time on the rest of the album, or this review for that matter. The Hypocrisy-esque “A Thousand Falling Skies” is, well, Hypocrisy-esque. Take that however you want. “Escaping Reality” has a wicked classical guitar intro leading into the rest of the song, which is just as magnificent. The title track, which is also the closing song, is one of the strongest numbers on the album, but is also one of the slower tracks (don’t worry, it’s not that slow), and also contains some of the best riffs on the disc.
Vocalist Mick (seriously try and find his last name) reserves his place alongside Christian Älvestam as one of the strongest vocalists in the scene. If you do know who he is, you also know that this is quite a compliment. Mick’s clean singing may not be as powerful as Christian’s, but his growls are just as strong. Guitarist Zephiros and Ponce (alright try and find any of their last names) also stand out. While they both use familiar patterns from the melodic death metal repertoire, they also experiment with some things that aren’t so common. Keeping up, and impressively to say the least, is drummer Morteüs. He alternates between blasts, bass drum patterns, and some simpler stuff for some contrast. His drumming is never the focus of the album, which could be either a good thing or bad thing - it’s hard to tell.
All in all, Destinity’s The Inside was definitely a surprising kick in the ass. It is filled with awesome riffs, growls, and musicianship. If it wasn’t for Holographic Universe raising the bar, The Inside probably would have scored even higher. While it may not be fair to judge an album that way, it’s just how it is. Regardless of their peers, Destinity have created a great album. Recently signing to Lifeforce Records will give them the necessary resources to push it to a North American audience that should respond well. It sucks that this had to be good; I really wanted to crack some jokes about them for choosing such an annoying name. Clearly their destinity was never to enter a spelling bee.
--Logan Broger
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