Inhuman

Talk about getting the shaft. Brooklyn hardcore act Inhuman have been around for over a decade, released three full-lengths and a handful of EPs prior to Last Rites on well-known indies like Eyeball and A-F and has played with household names like Hatebreed, Indecision and Kill Your Idols. And while I'd really like to say that Last Rites should finally gain them some more notoriety, there's just not enough going on here that will catapult them.

Last Rites is certainly diverse enough, and it fearlessly combines traits of punk, hardcore and metal with pristine subtlety. It starts out well in its opening title track, with a movie clip-assisted buildup leading into a pounding rendition of brutal NYHC with a shade of Snapcase's progressive elements. The tempo is then picked up in "Fashist," a blast-away track bringing Sick of It All to mind.

Interesting moments after that are few and far between, however, with Inhuman seeming to simply be going through the motions. "Heretic" feels sluggish for the most part, while "What You Wanted" is a little cheesy in the context of the album ("I broke your heart / you broke mine too"), even though its bridge is fairly interesting, musically. The last half of "The Dream Is Not Dead" is quite solid and "A Fine Line" is a cool Dag Nasty-flavored track (per the band's apparent intentions on the latter), but "Mania" seems to force its melody and the last few tracks are merely okay-ish.

Inhuman try a lot of different things on Last Rites and while that's definitely admirable, the results aren't always too good. That's a pity, as they're an obviously talented and hard-working band, but Last Rites just isn't the solid proof of that.

STREAM
Fashist
What You Wanted
The Dream Is Not Dead
Grindhouse