I.N.C - Black hearse Serenade

****

A band I should of listened to more!

Ok first thing is shame on me! I've been listening to this album for a couple of weeks now and it wasn't until I started doing some research on the band that I found out the band actually started in the 80's. I thought this was a debut! Hey at least I'm honest.Anyway as everyone else may or may not know I.N.C (Indestructible Noise Command) did two albums in the 80's split in 1990 and reformed in 2010 this being their second album since their reunion.

I've got no preconception of the band I'm reviewing this album on this albums content alone. I know your supposed to review an album like that but what I'm getting at is I don't know or care. If this is a dramatic change in the bands sound or anything like that, so here we go. Black hearse Serenade' is a modern sounding well rounded Metal album. If you really wanted to categorize the band you could say Thrash but there's a lot more to the band's sound. Simply put it's a great Heavy Metal album with great songs. It's varied, there's a mixture of different styles it has big riffs, tons of hooks and tons of melody.

Vocalist Dennis Gergely has a raspy voice but with a great range, his voice soars while remaining earthy. It makes a great contrast. Imagine if Whitfield Crane stopped fucking around and actually did a Metal album then you get the picture. As I touched on earlier saying the band was Thrash, yes they are but they have as much in common musically with Stuck Mojo, Life of Agony or even Madball as they do Anthrax or Megadeth.

Hell there's even a bit of a Grunge influence in places too. Like I say they mix it up. we have the fast and furious opener 'Stirring the Flock' with it's chanted vocals and soaring chorus to the groove of 'Invite this Plague' then with the album closer the acoustic 'Love like Napalm' which builds but to an awesome climax. The sound is a mixing pot. There is something for everyone here and when it calls for it Tony Fabrizi and Eric Barath can shred with the best of them. Just listen to the excellent lead work on 'The Lies we Devour'.

Review by Joe Denby

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