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Whether you're from New York or not (and even if you're not heavily into the genre at hand), you've still got to give credit where credit is due. Coming in from Long Island and steadily progressing their 25+ year legacy, brutal death connoisseurs Internal Bleeding are at it again. And, given the lukewarm reception of their last few releases, it's safe to say that the slam pioneers that have inspired so many other artists may have nailed it at last. Read on to find out how Corrupting Influence may just be the band's best release since their mid-1990s debut.
Corrupting Influence is known as Internal Bleeding's sixth and latest full length effort to date. The new album is being released this week via Unique Leader Records and consists of nine tracks that culminate into over 36 minutes of brutal tech death content. This time around, however, the five-piece is going on a little tangent off of their usual anti-war ranting and delving more into an anti-government-esque approach. Notably, this release was also aided by producer and recording engineer Joe Cincotta of Full Force Studio, who has collaborated with other death metal artists in the past such as Cognitive, Dehumanized, and Suffocation.
Corrupting Influence begins with a rather catchy and melodic guitar riff that is followed by some groovy chromatics and signature IB vocals in the form of opening track 'Compelled to Consume'. I also really enjoyed how the song transitions from verse to the main hook and manages to keep up the groovy slams, making it one of the more memorable songs on here. 'Corrupting Infuence', as a song itself, while a little bit repetitive at times, also stands out for its relentless grooviness and guitar/bass lines that flood its forefront, though I thought that more could've been done with the guitar solo towards the end. As a side note, the production quality throughout this album is top notch and arguably the best to showcase the talents of Internal Bleeding. All the instruments are tight and well written...and the vocals have that oldschool brutal death vibe at times.
On to what is arguably my personal fave off of Corrupting Influence, the song known as 'Fatal Dependency' highlights many of the reasons as to why I enjoy this genre and artist so much. The flow and transition from calming melodics to hard-hitting chugging and groove riffs a la Gojira or Skinless is just too good to pass up. It is one of the album's heavier tracks as a result, and the lyricism only adds to it. The single that was released (titled 'Focus') is a short song, but the quality is undeniably Internal Bleeding-worthy with its dissonant vocals, wailing guitar solo, and outro that is among the strongest off this release. As far as the next few songs go, 'Surrounded from the Inside' has a really powerful hook that is constantly surrounded by blast beats, double bass and the usual groove riffs that accompany Corrupting Influence; the two tracks that follow it are pretty entertaining in their own ways as well, though I probably shouldn't spoil too much at this point. I will say, however, that 'Final Justice' is a strong late-game song for its fast pace, gutturals and guitar action alone.
In terms of the cons surrounding IB's new album, there really isn't too much to mention. Though, I just wish there were more of those little guitar solos and/or bass lines here and there, like the ones you hear in the album's later tracks. Other than those nitpicks, I didn't really have any issues with Corrupting Influence. This is one that I'd easily recommend to brutal tech death, groove metal and obviously longtime Internal Bleeding fans alike.
In all, this new effort from longtime metallers Internal Bleeding is very competent and solid, to say the very least. Listeners will surely sense the ambition and inspiration early on, with a constant blend of slamming groove riffs, technical mish-mash, and melodic brutal death auras that will stimulate your hearing throughout Corrupting Influence's 36 minute running time. It's not the strongest comeback for a band to date, but it's still pretty close to being up there with such songs as 'Fatal Dependency', 'Unreality' and the like, which really showcase this band's ability. Safe to say that the brutal death pioneers are back in action and have redeemed themselves with what might just be their greatest release to date.
Fave Tracks: 'Compelled to Consume', 'Fatal Dependency', 'Final Justice'
For Fans Of: Pyrexia, Skinless, Suffocation
**This release is available now here!**
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-Review by: Dave Raffy
Musician, reviewer, fan & promoter
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