Review: Inverted Serenity – As Spectres Wither

Inverted Serenity is a four piece band from Winnipeg, Canada who have been active since their inception in 2009 and will release their third album As Spectres Wither on October 6th. This album will be released by the band themselves, so I thought I could do my bit for them and give their album a few spins. Credit must go to Inverted Serenity for having released three albums by themselves and who knows, maybe they want to continue to do it that way but one thing is certain… after my first spin, I am sure there will be plenty more people taking notice of them.

People who have read some of my reviews before know that I love a band with dual vocalists. Well, how does a band with four vocalists sound? That’s what we have here with Inverted Serenity who like to share the vocal duties with vocalist/bassist Tomas having main duties with the other band members sharing backing vocals. I love this as it adds so much to the music, especially when there are so many different emotions through each song throughout this CD.

“Dead Dialetics” starts things off nice and slowly, building the atmosphere and getting the listener waiting and then Tomas starts with his growls and then what we have is excellent technical death metal. The production of the album is excellent and allows each instrument to shine through and being self released, this shows the experience this four-piece have in the studio. In the song, there are so many time changes but everything flows perfectly and balances, with each vocalist adding their own input. This is a very positive start in the vein of Beyond Creation, and at times Suffocation and Decrepit Birth, but what they also have is their own individuality which makes this unique.

“Mitral Genesis” sounds like a death metal rap with two vocalists each getting a line to spit their venom which is again something that has to be applauded here. The guitars play flowing riffs that are not too technical and fit the extremity and the brutality of the material impeccably. Inverted Serenity like the use of solos as well and thankfully they are not of the “look at me, I can play guitar at 100mph” variety. They are filled with emotion and add to the music rather than making things complex. Again for the whole, the song is mid-paced without a blast beat in sight and the band concentrates on actual song writing rather than playing as fast as they can which is a good thing in my book.

“We Who Wonder” starts off with a riff that wouldn’t be amiss from a Suffocation album but I can forgive them for this as it’s followed by something that early Gojira would play. I mention these big name bands because Inverted Serenity play their music so well that they deserve to be heard. There are so many multiple time changes, solos, vocal changes, and changes of riff-pacing that I cannot do anything but applaud these gentlemen for their art.

With “Cornerstones”, Inverted Serenity have shown a different face to that of the previous tracks as this is much more hardcore both vocally and instrument-wise. This is not a bad thing, but I did not expect this at all after listening to the previous tracks. The drumming especially is much more hardcore and riffs are the same and there are, for the first time, some clear vocals on the album. It’s only towards the end of the song where the guitars down tune and the vocals reach the deepest growls and bring this back into technical death metal territory.

The next song that catches my eye is “Mechanical Gods” as what starts off as technical death metal gets sporadic clean vocals which do not detract from the heaviness of the song, but only intensify it. There are plenty of riffs and melodies that you would hear on mid-era Death as well as some deathcore riffs and vocals. Again, there is a bit to please everybody.

The final song, “Mountains of Stoke”, ends with an acoustic instrumental which showcases the musicianship displayed by Inverted Serenity. No song sounds the same on this album which makes it all the more enjoyable. If this was done wrongly, it could have been so disjointed but this has been done the right way. The fact that I was hooked on each of the nine songs on the album demonstrates that there is everything for everybody here and plenty for the listener to enjoy in this recording.

I think with this album, Inverted Serenity will be watched by labels and something may come of it and I sincerely wish the band the best of luck in their endeavours. They have done nothing but ignite the Canadian flame of extreme metal and shown that there is much more to Canada than just Kataklysm. I will be keeping an eye on Inverted Serenity!

Inverted Serenity: facebook | youtube

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