Review by Felix on May 30, 2019.

Back in 1986, I was on vacation in Italy and I entered a record shop in Florence. I saw the EP of Rex Inferi and I asked the seller a very intelligent question: is this more like Kiss or more like Motörhead? He was probably a very patriotic Italian, because his answer was: this is more like Vanadium. I still had no clue how this vinyl would sound.

However, I bought the record, and this was the wrong decision. The synthetic keyboard intro is just useless, but the regular tracks are really predominantly lame. The band mixes stale hard rock elements with some slightly harsher ideas and the seventies shimmer through many guitar lines. I am no fan of the music of this decade and it's probably unfair to blame pioneers of Italian metal for the awkwardness of their first musical steps. However, the bitter truth is that the album bleeds from multiple wounds. For example, the high-pitched vocals suck. They lack power and charisma. Some guitar lines fail to create a proper heaviness, although there is a small number of acceptable riffs and leads. From time to time the band gets crazy and tries to embrace the speed metal maniacs ("Axeman in Black"). Indeed, the instrumental parts really develop a certain pressure. Nevertheless, this is no classic of the genre, but a pretty decent number at best. The remaining compositions sound provincial and more or less amateurish, albeit there can be no doubt that the band has integrated many ideas in each and every regular track - but, as much as I regret it, mostly mediocre ideas.

The songs were obviously recorded by someone who had never made a metal production before, or she/he just wanted to create this relatively light sound with feeble drums. The heaviness of the guitars shows up every now and then, for instance during the pretty long, competent yet slightly egocentric solo of the closer, but honestly speaking, the vapid mix meets the quality of the songs on an equal footing. So here is my message to all metal archaeologists: there is not really a cause to unearth this vinyl.

Rating: 3.5 out of 10

Review by Jason on March 2, 2012.

Psycroptic is a band that burst onto the Tech-Death scene back in the early 2000’s with a very unique sound to add to an (at the time) blossoming sub-genre. With their sophomore release, "The Scepter Of The Ancients" they effectively put together the perfect storm with their vocals unique style, fresh riffs galore and an overall sound that defined them as Psycroptic. Soon afterwards however the group lost their front man.

Subsequent albums failed to garner as much praise, largely due to the change on the vocal front. The replacement, Jason Peppiatt was a solid vocalist, yet just didn’t have the same feel to fit the act. In 2008 "Ob(Servant)" was released, and while not reaching the level of acclaim that "The Scepter Of The Ancients" did; it did effectively give hope to fans of the act that they could all work together to recreate a collective feel. Enter 2012, and the release of "The Inherited Repression".

In spite of any short comings of the past couple albums, I looked forward to this release with an abundance of anticipation. In nearly every way I was filled with disappointment upon absorbing what it has to offer.

"The Inherited Repression" is in many ways the exact opposite of what Psycroptic revealed in a decade ago. Death vocals are more or less absent throughout the album in its entirety; instead the guys opt for Jason’s more Metal-Core styling and ever annoying ‘tough guy’ shouts. New and engaging riffs that can carry the listener throughout entire songs are replaced by generic, uninspired segments yearning to follow through, but always falling short. A cohesive sound that drips with a unique flavor has vanished, in trade for what is now a very vanilla feel void of personality. Technical prowess is lacking, and instead we get a rather streamlined, safe infrastructure to songs.

There is nothing inherently bad about this release. The production quality is good, and the performances are technically sound. That said, with apparent lack of inspiration and their choice of direction on the vocal front "The Inherited Repression" never truly manages to wallow in much past mediocrity. Once again, this album can be summed up in one word; disappointment.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 4
Production: 8
Originality: 4
Overall: 6

Rating: 5.8 out of 10