Review by Felix on November 8, 2022.

Grave, synonym for pure death metal, released “Dominion VIII”, their eighth album, in 2008. A clever strategy: if you do not have three sixes, take three eighths. But honestly speaking, this was the only “innovation” that the outputs revealed. “Dominion VIII” is predictable from beginning to the end, take it as a compliment or not.

The first thing that strikes the listener is the murderous tone of the extreme voluminous guitars. The opening power chord leaves no doubt that the band tries to impress the audience with sheer violence. And it goes without saying that this marks an important feature for real death metal. But it needs more to stand out in a positive way. Yes, there are the brutal, throaty vocals, there is a lot of velocity and there is no lack of technical precision. However, I miss truly thrilling compositions. The guitars seem to play the same lines they already did on the debut, only embedded in a more opulent yet brutal production. Yet even the debut had more catchy elements than this stubborn work without groovy rhythms or memorable choruses. Admittedly, the album is free from stinkers. No song falls through the net completely. But I don’t think that this is reason enough to release a full-length. Especially veterans should have a different claim on themselves.

The lack of diversity does not make it easier to identify highlights. All songs have the same basic aroma and unfortunately, it is free from any form of atmosphere. Of course, the deadly subgenre follows other rules than black metal. Anyhow, a certain quantum of atmosphere is always a good thing. Some morbid lines here, a perfidious solo there and so on. But we have to wait until the last piece before Grave treat us to something like that. The title track does not offer violence as an end it itself. It’s a beast that awakes slowly and grows more and more afterwards. Here Grave bundle the most effective guitar lines, the maximum of diversity and the biggest portion of catchiness (of course only related to this record). This epically overpowering song represents a reasonably conciliatory conclusion, but naturally it cnnot turn a mediocre album in an exciting one. Too little brilliance, too little tension and too few good ideas are offered by the monotonous songs before.

So back in 2008, Grave recorded an album that does not belong to the highlights of their catalogue. Guess it needs a lot of spins to come to the adventurous core of this material, if it has one at all! I am quietly doubtful, even if the word "quietly" should not be used in any other context with this album.

Rating: 5.8 out of 10

Review by Michael on April 11, 2021.

To go into the history of Massacre would go beyond the scope of this review and probably end up in a death metal soap opera. So, let's leave that at this point and note that with Inhuman Condition, named after Massacre's 1992 EP, a quasi-successor band is at the start and Rat God will be their debut album, which will be released on June 4 via Listenable Insanity Records on CD (and on August 6 on Black Serpent Records on vinyl). On board are: Massacre founding member Terry Butler (also Obituary, ex-Death, among others), Jeramie Kling (Venom Inc., Goregäng, The Absence) and Taylor Nordberg (Goregäng, The Absence). In addition, Rick Rozz (Ex-Massacre, Ex-Death) contributed a few guitar solos and Paul Mazurkiewicz (Cannibal Corpse) lyrics and a few vocal parts on the title track.

Musically, Inhuman Condition offer solid death metal, often reminiscent of the aforementioned Massacre or even older Death from the "Leprosy" / "Spiritual Healing" era and the vocals let memories of "From Beyond" awake in parts. While the first two songs are rippling still a bit they are over pretty quickly but then 'Planetary Paroxysm' offers a Death-like riff as an introduction and the song quickly turns into a pretty casual mid-tempo stomper, which is repeatedly interrupted by fast riffs. 'Killing Pace' is one of the highlights of the album. This is a pretty cool groovy song that is very catchy and strongly reminiscent of Massacre. 'Tyrantula' starts with an almost shamanic intro, spreads a threatening atmosphere but picks up speed in the course of the song and offers the listener some pretty sick guitar solos. 'Rat God' is again a mid-tempo stomper, which could also have been on "From Beyond". Paul Mazurkiewicz has contributed few guest vocals here as already mentioned. Also the last two tracks offer solid fare, some Death here, some Massacre there, also worth listening to.

Production-wise there is nothing to complain about on Rat God. Every instrument sounds clean and the vocals punchy, just the way a good death metal record should sound.

The cover, which was designed by Dan Goldsworthy (Accept, Cradle of Filth, Xentrix), also deserves a positive mention. It is very detailed and lovingly designed and will be certainly a pretty cool eye-catcher as a LP!

In my opinion, Inhuman Condition have managed to create a quite impressive debut, which cannot necessarily take on Massacre's "From Beyond", but is still a lot better than the rather bland 2014 "Back From Beyond". Rat God could well be a contender for the top 10 albums of 2021!

Rating: 9.1 out of 10 rats

Review by Michael on April 11, 2021.

To go into the history of Massacre would go beyond the scope of this review and probably end up in a death metal soap opera. So, let's leave that at this point and note that with Inhuman Condition, named after Massacre's 1992 EP, a quasi-successor band is at the start and Rat God will be their debut album, which will be released on June 4 via Listenable Insanity Records on CD (and on August 6 on Black Serpent Records on vinyl). On board are: Massacre founding member Terry Butler (also Obituary, ex-Death, among others), Jeramie Kling (Venom Inc., Goregäng, The Absence) and Taylor Nordberg (Goregäng, The Absence). In addition, Rick Rozz (Ex-Massacre, Ex-Death) contributed a few guitar solos and Paul Mazurkiewicz (Cannibal Corpse) lyrics and a few vocal parts on the title track.

Musically, Inhuman Condition offer solid death metal, often reminiscent of the aforementioned Massacre or even older Death from the "Leprosy" / "Spiritual Healing" era and the vocals let memories of "From Beyond" awake in parts. While the first two songs are rippling still a bit they are over pretty quickly but then 'Planetary Paroxysm' offers a Death-like riff as an introduction and the song quickly turns into a pretty casual mid-tempo stomper, which is repeatedly interrupted by fast riffs. 'Killing Pace' is one of the highlights of the album. This is a pretty cool groovy song that is very catchy and strongly reminiscent of Massacre. 'Tyrantula' starts with an almost shamanic intro, spreads a threatening atmosphere but picks up speed in the course of the song and offers the listener some pretty sick guitar solos. 'Rat God' is again a mid-tempo stomper, which could also have been on "From Beyond". Paul Mazurkiewicz has contributed few guest vocals here as already mentioned. Also the last two tracks offer solid fare, some Death here, some Massacre there, also worth listening to.

Production-wise there is nothing to complain about on Rat God. Every instrument sounds clean and the vocals punchy, just the way a good death metal record should sound.

The cover, which was designed by Dan Goldsworthy (Accept, Cradle of Filth, Xentrix), also deserves a positive mention. It is very detailed and lovingly designed and will be certainly a pretty cool eye-catcher as a LP!

In my opinion, Inhuman Condition have managed to create a quite impressive debut, which cannot necessarily take on Massacre's "From Beyond", but is still a lot better than the rather bland 2014 "Back From Beyond". Rat God could well be a contender for the top 10 albums of 2021!

Rating: 9.1 out of 10 rats