Review by Alex Grindor on March 6, 2023.

Sombre narration and atonal harmonies serve as the foreshadow of the darkness to be unleashed by Inerte. Formed late 2019 by Nico (former founding member of "Sin Cera"), Inerte is Nico's more brutal approach to music, distancing it from his previous band. After a long time, 2023 sees the release of S/C..., its debut EP. With every aspect supervised by Nico, S/C... is a great EP that shows a great deal of experimentation, but does have some unpolished sections.

Opening up with a dark, dreadful narration coupled with dissonance, it slowly builds up to the inevitable maelstrom of black metal that follows. While the music is really agressive in its approach, there is a lot of distinct elements and variety in every track. Guitars clash and mesh at large throughtout the record, with plenty of riffs, harmonies and dissonance without relying entirely on chaotic means. The bass is rich in its sound and its presence is notorious, adding a great punch to
the overall sound while also going on its own at moments. Drums are competent enough but not the most interesting part of the EP, and my gut tells me that these are programmed drums, but I have no issue with that at all. Vocals also feature a wide variety; from dysmal clean vocals to deep growls to Leviathan-esque screams, all in great measure. Nico has taken a lot of time for this and it shows. Music wise, there is something for everyone here, although some vocal approaches are better than others. And I do feel there is an overextension of clean vocals at times.

Production wise, the sound is a bit unpolished but not detrimental to the overall experience. The drums are the least taken care of in this aspect but in general, the entire record has no overproduction. For the style it fits well and, once again, the music is not really affected by it. These rough edges can be polished in future releases but Nico (being in charge of everything) shows that he has the knowledge for the craft.

In around 25 minutes, Inerte shows a lot of potential and I hope he only continues to improve in the future. My only main concern is that maybe there was a bit too much of experimentation in this release and some results may not be to everyone's liking (like 'Hole Is Hell', which starts in a way more reminiscent to dark electronic music), but if time proves me right, Inerte will grasp only the good experiments. This release is available on Inerte's Bandcamp, but lacking 'Hole Is Hell'. However, Nico has announced that March 2023 will see the release of the full EP. So if you like your dark metal with some avant-garde elements, you can always give a chance to this project.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Alex Grindor on April 4, 2021.

From Russia, the anonymous collective known as Skorb will release their s/t EP in April, and it's a must-have for fans of extreme metal.

Taking the best elements of black, death and doom metal and molding it into their own ways, this EP has everything for fans of each style. From fast tremolo-picked riffs to crawling, crushing down-paced moments, the variety in each song is astounding. While the music may be rooted in doom metal for most of the time, there are moments where we are treated to blast beats frenzies of black metal and mid-paced headbanging rhythms in the vein of old-school death, with each track intertwining and shifting between these moments flawlessly.

In between these oppressive crushing tracks, some great dissonant melodies are thrown in that just elevate the scope of the atmosphere that one step further. Drums are excellent as well, as the person behind the kit knows when to crank it up to eleven and when to calm down to allow the music to continue its normal course. Vocals are really well executed, with a mixture of deep growls and shrieks and some clean vocals here and there as well, used in exact moments to enhance specific segments of the tracks. The best example of this would be the ending of track 1, 'Feeling Reborn', as the double bass pummels its way through the last moments, with the guitars delivering both a down-paced crushing riff and a sinister melody, all the while these vocals deliver anguished lines.

Citing Suffocation, Entombed, Portal and Mgła as their primary influences, and with over 25 minutes of music split in 5 tracks, Skorb has created a monolith of an EP, worth the time of any fan of extreme music. While some moments may feel repetitive, the overall experience is far greater than this minor gripe. Out on April 23rd, via Corrupted Flesh Records.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10