Insect Inside – The First Shining of New Genus

Band: Insect Inside
Title: The First Shining of New Genus
Label: Gore House Productions
Release Date: 19 February 2021
Country: Russia
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

Today I am jumping way out of my comfort zone and launching into a slam/ brutal death metal pit with Russian band Insect Inside. Having studied and worked in the field of Entomology how could I pass up an opportunity to review a band named ‘Insect Inside’? Well spoiler, I couldn’t, and then while I read through the promo kit I was almost salivating over the colourful insect-related content:

“The sound comes first; a faint buzzing on the fringes of your hearing and you know it’s time to get up, to run again – but there’s no energy left in your limbs, no hope left in your heart. They’re getting closer and you can hear the clicking, chittering – a million malevolent minds marching as one. It’s too late to run now and there’s a relief in the resignation…until you see the first of the gleaming carapaces scuttling from the undergrowth, fast becoming a tide of many-legged, many-eyed hunger. Then the panic hits and you start to scream – which simply opens a gateway for the swarm. You are consumed from the inside out, devoured from the outside in…reduced in seconds to a skeletal palace for the briefly sated horde.”

Now, I can’t say that I personally find the thought of insects terrifying and I don’t believe anyone should, however please don’t let me ruin that irrational fear for you. Besides even if you aren’t afraid of six-legged beasties you will surely be terror-stricken by Insect Inside.

The band formed in 2017 and their crushing debut “The First Shining of New Genus” comes after having previously released a single during their first year together and a demo in 2019. The album runs for a brief but brutal 33 minutes and features ten pulverising tracks. Being an infrequent visitor to the subgenre myself, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this album and I was thrilled to be confronted with something so potent and technical.

The album opens with eerie throat singing while the clicking of scuttling bugs and agonising screams play in the background. Track two “Sickening Ground” is an absolute banger and wrenched me in with catchy riffs, flashy guitar work, clacking bass sounds, brash percussion and machine gun fire drum work.

The vocals on the album are largely belched forth in a deep guttural OSDM manner but occasionally there is an injection of more general, listener-friendly roars which breaks up the tracks nicely and add an unexpected layer the overall sound.

I enjoy the band’s sporadic use of brief, abrupt pausing of all the instruments in unison which punctuates the chugging onslaught to great effect. The production is crisp and clean allowing each instrument to be conspicuous in the mix, preventing any muddiness or confusion.

The stand out tracks for me were “For the Glory of Swarm”, “Evisceration through the Throat” with it’s delightful tempo changes and “Embalming for the Chrysalis”.

For someone who isn’t as well exposed to BDM as others, I found Insect Inside’s debut surprisingly thrilling. It was far more complex, detailed, snappy and overall fun than I had anticipated, not to mention heavily laden with insect references. Shuffle over BDM fans and get ready to welcome another recruit to your ranks. If I need to convince you or buy my way in, I can always offer my entomological services. 7.5/10 Proua Metallist