To borrow from the press notes for this record briefly: “It’s an album that has nothing but vitriol for the woefully inadequate institutions that have been broken by corruption and greed, instead encouraging the kind of strength that’s found within yourself and the people closest to you”. Immediately I suspect I’ll be enjoying this record. For the avoidance of doubt this is heavy-as-balls hardcore but it also spends a little time, sporadically, in powerviolence territory. And the title pertains to the band’s home state. A place they love, but also one where they perceive many issues. Hence the sentence above from the press notes. So the question for me on this record, realistically, was ‘how much am I going to love this?’.

But here’s the thing. I’ve given it a long time now and I don’t love it anywhere near as much as I would like to. If that makes any sense at all. Given the band’s label, general style and motivation, this should be the most ‘me’ record of the year. If I think about bands or records that are in the same ballpark thematically, like God’s Hate, Kublai Khan, Regional Justice Center, Gulch, etc then this should have me rolling over and asking to have my belly tickled. But it doesn’t. I’ve undertaken a little bit of analysis and process of elimination whilst considering why this is the case. Is it the production? Nope. Sounds big, thick textured chugs and just a hint of wiriness to the riffing where appropriate. Squealing feedback all over the place makes it feel organic as well. No issues there. Is it the delivery? Nope. these guys sound fucking rabid. Genuinely terrifying at points. And I don’t want that to be overlooked; the performances are wild. Both musically and vocally. Is it dynamics? No. Well, not insofar as I would want from an 18-minute hardcore record anyway. There are slower passages (the band cite Obituary as an influence, so that slow stomp lands really well) but then there are the absurdly heavy and fast powerviolence elements as well. So what is it?

At this relatively early stage (I’m on my 3rd listen through as I write the first draft of this review) it’s a combination of a lack of anthemic songs or hooks, and something simply more intangible. A je ne c’est quoi. Kublai Khan have absurd breakdowns and a gleeful bone-headedness that isn’t present here. God’s Hate have sloganeering and rhythmic elements that are genuinely interesting and cool (and a wrestler as a vocalist). Gulch had a level of lunacy that simply defied explanation, but also drew from thrash, post punk and even black metal. Ingrown don’t have a particularly defining characteristic in that same way. Or not that is as clearly discernible, at least. And here is where I think they’re missed an opportunity. Because the album closer, the title track, is an Irish-inflected mandolin(possibly Banjo?)-led acoustic instrumental. Let that sink in. That’s weird, right? But it’s really fucking cool, that’s the thing. And it generates an atmosphere that is (rather predictably) geographically specific to the band’s home. But with it being the last track, that atmosphere begins and ends there. I just don’t quite get it. If that track was the opening track, or somewhere in the midst of the maelstrom of this record, then it would lend that air to the record as a whole. As it is, it raises your eyebrows for a few minutes and then then record is over. It’s a curio more than an integral piece of scene-setting.

I don’t want to rag on this record, I really don’t, but it feels a bit like a missed opportunity. The key piece of the identity of the record lasts less than 2 minutes and takes the form of a denouement. The main body of the record does something I really like to a decent degree but doesn’t stick with me all that much, if I’m honest. I suspect that Ingrown are a completely devastating live band, and these songs will more than serve them well in that environment, but the record just lacks hooks. In terms of both songwriting and character. Which in a record themed around, or that is an homage to, Idaho, shouldn’t be an issue. I think they can do a lot better. Next record, I hope.