Inner Blast
Sleepless Monster

It would appear that the monsters are sleepless, the tears are shed, the fixation with better days is there as well. All this when portuguese band Inner Blast are releasing their debut EP, something they do by themselves with some PR help and distribution from the Infektion label and PR-agency. Gothic metal it is said to be in the biography that followed this EP, not much has come in terms of reviews and similar stuff as the only reviews I have been able to find around the web has been in portuguese so I might be the first to write one in international. Even if I am not the first this is another of those new and exciting portuguese bands that seems to be popping up almost by the minute nowadays, the logo however is not that exciting as it looks like a variation on a theme frequently used for band logos. The Cover art feels as nothing special, a bit reddish perhaps but decent nonetheless.

It is an EP of five, tracks that is and those play for twenty seven minutes. The tracks are not that varied and can be said to be rather similar, albeit I would not say that they are identical but variation on a rather narrow theme. It is a rather typical gothic metal album, fairly morose, fairly melodic, the female singer has a fairly deep voice but all in all I would say that it is a fairly typical gothic/doom metal album. Maybe a bit cautious in style but well produced and I would say that it is well performed as well. I would say that it sounds rather well and would add that they at least seem to know how to produce an album.

I would say that this is a fairly good EP, my impression is a rather positive one. The songs are good and there are no real weak points of this EP other than perhaps the fact that it is a stylistically fairly typical EP for the genre and possibly a bit static. But I think that it is one EP that fans of the genre will probably enjoy, although more casual fans of the genre will possibly see this as just another release in the genre. So it is good but I think that it lacks a focal point and a certain flair, that hit song that makes a good album great. Still it is a good show of what they are capable of, maybe they are a bit cautious and doesn’t really dare to try and move outside the box which is something I would have liked them to do, but maybe this music is designed to work for their live shows which is said to be very special if we are to believe the press sheet.

So in the end it is a good EP, no denying that but the best value of it might be as a teaser for something that is coming up later. Until then though I would say that this EP holds some merit and is an entertaining one to listen to even though I would really have liked to see it move slightly out of the box to appeal to me even more but it is a good listen nonetheless.

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