Insistent - Suspect

A generous dose of grindcore mixed with crust punk and death metal influences is what Insistent from Czechia give us with their debut album. In less than 15 mins they present a well crafted fusion style. Although highly energetic and furiously fast, their songs keep the interest active mainly due to their enrichment with heavier and hardcore/punk parts.

The opener 'Depression' features all the well known ingredients of grindcore showing that Insistent have studied the genre really well both as fans and musicians prior to writing their music. After a furious start with an electrically stormy riff, the song changes mood with the use of a pounding riff to be followed by groovier parts of hardcore/punk aesthetics. The hi-hat cymbal sounds wide and intonates well the meters.

'About Hunger and Sleep' fast riffs can be attributed to early punk/grind bands like (the first period of) Extreme Noise Terror, Discharge and when it comes to metal to Brutal Truth and (early) Napalm Death. The groovy parts of Insistent have a good dose of (the band) Doom added in.

'Rust' starts off with a mid tempo (a-la Obituary) riff while the drums beat in an increasingly faster pace. The guitar noise left to mingle with and finally become a part of their song adds to the personality of the song itself and finally to the personality of the band, giving the album a nice warm live feeling and aestetically placing it to the revival albums of the 80's crust/punk category. As a Sonic Youth fan myself, I have always loved meaningful noise additions to music. Extreme Noise Terror have mastered such additions in the crust/grind style and I feel lucky to have seen them live many years ago in a 30-mins set that took my head off (R.I.P. Phil Vane).

'Abandoned Monuments' is death/grind driven in ways previously used by Napalm Death in 'From Enslavement to Obliteration'. All Insistent tracks are super dynamic and short, but their ideas never sound incomplete. With an average length of 1:30 minutes, their natural tendency is rather to become moshpit favorites.

Speaking of short songs, 'Hate Makes Waste' is the shortest song in the album, but its 48 seconds will surely nail you down. After this storm-attack track and wisely enough Insistent slow down the speed and the sludge bass riff of 'Overdosed' breaks in. The guitar riffs here carry a Slayer - "Diabolus In Musica" drive in their groove allowing the listener to breathe in and out for a few seconds in a breath-taking album.

'Terrorstorm' returns to the Brutal Truth / Rotten Sound style again with an amazing double bass and fast snare. 'Vanity''s riff is a moshpit death metal riff mixed with grind/punk speed and filth. The vocals in the end of the song left me shrouded in a devilish Deicide aura. The last song 'Suspect' begins with an atmospheric intro but soon the Insistent pattern returns. The last minutes of the song is noise and effects - as if the band left the guitars and bass in front of their amps after a live show (Motorhead used to do this) - completing the live and raw atmosphere of the album.

After their 'Serenity of Suffering' debut EP (2017) which was re-released in 2018 as a split with BYT, 'Suspect' is Insistent's debut full length album. It is a very nice album in the grindcore genre and although it is short enough, it won't disappoint the fans. Insistent self released the album, but I think it won't be hard for them to find a label in the future (if they want to). Insistent play a well executed grindcore with death metal and some crust/punk elements added and they successfully continue the long tradition Czechia has in this genre. I would love to see them live, drink beers next to the pit and why not join it!

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1. Depression
2. About Hunger And Sleep
3. Rust
4. Abandoned Monuments
5. Hate Makes Waste
6. Overdosed
7. Terrorstorm
8. Vanity
9. Suspect