Review by Death8699 on October 31, 2019.

As much as I like the lyrics to this album, I think that the raw production sound made the sound kind of flat. This release is a mix of death metal combined with grindcore. This takes us back to the early days of hearing old Napalm Death via Lee Dorrian and old Carcass via "Reek of Putrefaction". No surprise that Oscar Garcia (Terrorizer) is on guitar/vocals to have us revisit these days of what early grind was like and the mixing/sound quality reminiscent of those band's grind days.

The music varies, but overall I'd say that it's a good blend between thick guitar chunks immersed in some grind frenzies which didn't exist in eternity with this album. They are not just blast beating galore, it's a mix and it really hit home with me, especially the efforts of both guitarists and the band as a whole. A 4-piece here and some solo frenzies via whammy bar plus arpeggios and screechy lead guitar work. The main focus here I think was to stay underground and dish out about 30 minutes of utter craziness.

Oscar reminds me a lot of Lee Dorian, just not as deep throat as he was. There isn’t a plethora of grind bands that I know of these days. Napalm Death turned more into death metal as opposed to pure grind of the early days. Nausea revisits the early days of these bands, not the band themselves, just a comparison when grind really became intriguing with the gruesomeness and noise it seemed to be like in the mid 80's to the early 90's. This band has been a mix of death/grind, but it's the first time ever hearing them.

Expect the rawness sound of the recording and you will hear the guitars blast bar chords mixed with tremolo picking style riffs. It's a definite good listen to. I found it on YouTube, this album at least and decided that it was good enough to own a physical copy of the CD. I like the brutality and rawness, the lyrics are also well sought out in topics that cover war, politics and religion. I don't agree with the religious aspect, but they have some pretty cool political commentary here as well as rage war of nowadays tyrannies that exist.

If you're into and like that death/grind raw sound to these genres, then Condemned To The System is definitely worth looking into. Grind is tough to find nowadays, and Nausea really hits home with good music alongside some fast riff frenzies and deep throat mixed with some screaming. So much of what I liked in the early days of grindcore, but they mesh the death metal aspect of the album, so you'll get both combined. The music is original and addictive. It's really under 30 minutes of pure awesome music!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Yener on May 9, 2019.

Months ago, I was approached by Intrepid guitarist Simo to check out their first EP, Empress of Devastation - and because I don’t get many, or should I say, any review requests from Estonia, I of course accepted to give this young band a listen. 

It’s an exciting thing, to listen to such a new band that isn’t signed to any labels or doesn’t have any previous LP’s or EP’s. This is their very first effort. Their baby steps.

These aren’t baby steps at all though, as these guys certainly know what they are doing. In fact, these steps are quite hard, and quite solid. As soon as the EP really starts with “Inside the Wall”, you get that sense of old Obituary. Now I don’t know about you guys, but I really miss that vibe - those dirty, sludgy riffs, with those old school vocals. Vocalist Kevin Marks sounds absolutely nothing like John Tardy, but the vibe is there. A lot of it has to do with how the songs carry themselves, but a lot of it also has to do with the drumming - there are no blast beats here. It’s completely old school death metal drumming and wouldn’t sound out of place at all on the earlier Death and Cannibal Corpse albums.

Speaking of old school death metal, I’m happy to report that there is no Morbid Angel worship here - something which I am so sick of I could rant about it for several weeks. No, Intrepid take a more straight forward and brutal attack, but still retain enough finesse so it’s not totally caveman, either. First of all, guitarist Simo does a great job with some no-nonsense guitar work. He is also creative with the note selection and also the arrangement of the songs and their sections. While it sounds primitive compared to say, Cattle Decapitation, well that’s the whole point. Intrepid don’t just blaze through ten sections and call it a song, you can tell they’ve thought about the arrangements for quite a while. Each guitar break, each bass break is carefully crafted, so the end result is that it hits with a lot more impact. It’s like being stomped on slowly, rather than being kicked really fast. 

The vocals as I mentioned above are really well fitting for this sound, I don’t think they could be any better to be honest. The rhythm made up of Kalli Talonpoika on bass and Madis Kaljurand on drums is really solid, as solid as you would expect. I appreciate how the bass can really be heard in the mix, and also that there are no blast beats. The mix I also really appreciate as it literally sounds like it was recorded in the 80’s. However, there’s one sound on here, especially on “Empress of Devastation” during the 4:26 mark, which I have no idea what it belongs to. It’s a weird frequency in the mix which I can’t quite put my finger on. Is that the guitar pick? If so, that’s one fucking loud guitar pick. It literally squeaks through the entire section. But nevertheless, the mixing job on this EP is quite great. Everything can be heard loudly and clearly, which is the most important thing.

Overall this is an EP I really enjoy and displays, at least for me, a lot of good things to come. I hope the guys Intrepid stick to it because this is not the type of death metal typically released anymore. Everyone is so focused on speed and technique that I really do miss bands like Solstice and early Malevolent Creation. For those who like the old school death metal vibe and style, give this a spin, it will absolutely not let you down.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10