Shrouded – ‘Inception of Inhumanity’

Inception of Inhumanity is the debut offering from melodic death metal group Shrouded. Based in Lisburn and Antrim in Northern Ireland, their cd has a lot that I like. There is the bones and most of the flesh of some outstanding tracks but it has more elements that took me a little while to like. That is not a bad thing and there is a lot of potential here, some great ideas and fun tracks. With that said, let’s get into some detail. 

“The Reckoning of Dis” is a great second track. It is crisp, heavy and has the right amount of technical guitar parts to appease everyone. I like the little breakdowns and interludes most of all. It sets the tone better than the opener “Forged In Blood”Heavy but melodic; a perfect combo. This is also true of the next track “Illusion of Free Will” with its dirt bass intro into a savage guitar riff opening things up for a full on metallic assault. Again the guitars are stellar. The drumming is kind of odd at points but it works.

“Wintergrave” has a crushing and brutal breakdown at the three minute mark that makes the whole album that much better. “I, The Lycantrophe” has flashes of being great but I didn’t get it. It is the one track that didn’t click with me at all.

The keys are too loud in the mix during the first three songs and they’re not really needed for the most. You guys are heavy enough! I feel that the keys take a little bit away from the overall wall of sound. That say they level out perfectly in the latter two tracks. The lack of a prominent low end on all the tracks i.e. bass tracks you can hear bugged me a bit too. A higher mix would’ve yielded more of a punch but that is only a small point.

I respect the lads and their vocal work but it is way to Deicide for me; this makes it off off putting as it almost becomes like Dethklok at points. That’s not a slam; it’s just how I hear it. That said there are vocal patterns that serve the songs very well too. During the awesome break of “Illusion of Free Will” for example is so very good and I love this approach to death metal vocals. Kudos!

The record has top notch product and this gives the whole thing a nice sheen that is key in melodic death metal. The lead in the second track “The Reckoning of Dis” is one of the best examples of why good production matters so much.

This is once again, a fine offering from the lads. They all give a great performance and there is enough here to go home happy. Watch out for these guys because great things are ahead from them if this release is any indication of their potential. It is a strong offering and worth picking up.

Shrouded are:

Dani Kansanaho – Guitar and Vocals
Shane Hughes – Guitar and Vocals
Scott Neill – Drums and Vocals