Inborn Suffering - "Regression To Nothingness" ...

It has been a long time since a Solitude Productions release has been reviewed on this site but in the case of this band, the wait has been worth it. Inborn Suffering are not reinventing anything within the melodic death doom scene but this is still a damn lot more original than their previous album Wordless Hope that came out way, way back in 2006. However it is still in the classic death-doom mold and sounds along the same lines as Daylight Dies, My Dying Bride and Swallow The Sun. I don't know if this band is trying to beat the death-doom originators at their own game but they sure are giving them a run for their money with this album.

A couple of elements concerning this album do raise some negative issues. The vocals are a mix of the low-down death growl kind and a black metal raspy style and very little of it is what could be called "real singing." The vocals and the lyrical content seems to be there in the mix just to fill out the sound and offer next to nothing to enhance these songs in any way but at least musically, Inborn Suffering throws out a hell of a lot more interesting passages than the average melodic death doom act. There are 7 songs on 'Regression To Nothingness' that range from 7 to well over 13 minutes so it is all about whether it can hold your attention but it does do that very well for the most of it.

Opener 'Slumber Asylum' is discordant and kind of hypnotic and that doesn't let up for the next hour or so of crippling death doom and they do have some variance but the changes do come in a very predictable way just the same. Songs are given room to breathe and do take their time in getting going especially on the longer tracks like 'Apotheosis,' 'Grey Eden' and the almost 14 minutes of the title track. With a lot of death doom bands, the listener is forced to wonder when the song will finally get into top gear and that happens too a lot with 'Regression to Nothingness' but it never gets too tedious.

Guitar work including the bass work is interesting but nothing terribly exciting, the bass work especially is a bit meandering at times and I often wonder if it is enhancing the music or just a distraction. The vocals also fall into that same situation at times. The music is oppressive, thick, dense and very dark in terms of atmosphere but the album is oddly relaxing in a heavy, depressive kind of a way. ' Apotheosis' usually sounds like the pick of the album due to it being a little different from all the rest of the songs. At the other end of the spectrum, the last song 'Self Contempt Kings' seems to drag on forever despite having some nice passages of bleak melody. The close to 70 minute album is certainly more engaging than the bulk of death doom released so far this year but I still find myself on the fence with it. If you are like me, you might find this album to be best taken a few tracks at a time. Check it out for yourself death-doomsters.....7/10.

Words: Sally Bethhall

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