Do you like the Alien film franchise? I like the Alien film franchise. It’s a mixed feelings type of thing when it comes to these films. Some people like them all, some people hate them all, some people like a few and hate a few, while others couldn’t care less. Me though, I dig ’em, all of them. The original and its sequels, and even the two prequels of the last ten years, though the 1986 Aliens is by far my favorite of the franchise.

I digress though, this review is not about my childhood to adulthood likings of a kick ass movie line, but actually about the (mostly) Italian death metal band Inverted Matter, and the digital re-releasing of their 2017 album Detach. So why all the Alien talk? Well you see, Inverted Matter end up being a lot like those Alien egg pods that unbeknowingly house those nasty face-hugging fuckers. When finding out that the infamous Mike Smith (Suffocation) performed the drumwork on Detach, and is still listed as an active member, my curiosity got the best of me and I went poking around. When that Alien pod that is Inverted Matter opened itself up, Detach, that vicious beast inside, took its little appendages, wrapped them tightly around my face and throat, and began the process of transference of parasite to host. Though instead of a horrid death bringing creature being implanted within myself, I instead got a brain full of synapse firing old-school and Americanized/Floridian flavored death metal.

Inverted Matter cull heavily and reside proudly in that late ’90’s to early 2000’s era of streamlined, technical, but not too technical, and even sometimes clinical take on death metal barbarity perfected by the likes of Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal, Internecine, and even Diabolic, and Krisiun; much like Warfather and Nader Sadek do. Wasting no time whatsoever, the band throws its cards on the table for all to see and sets up the flow and feel of Detach some what well. I say somewhat, because Detach is front loaded for sure and that does end up hurting the album a tad bit, but damn it, those first four tracks do pack a nice wallop. Album opener “The Mark” gets down to business with its blasting and its chopping riff barrage, while both “Drake Effect” and “Foreigner” showcase some quality ideas along side some killer serpentine riffage, the latter making good use of some slower tempos to utilize interest and catchiness.”Facility” may just be my favorite track from Detach, the droning riffs and again slower incorporated tempos work extremely well. The track has a strong Morbid Angel sheen that builds to a frenzy in its chunkiness and overt catchiness before falling to a lurching rhythm. The song has an ominous feel within itself that lends to its overall succesful character; not to mention the leadwork within the track is full of feeling and seems to well structured/thought out.

While the rest of Detach isn’t bad by any means, it does fall flatter compared to the album’s previous tracks, with the majority of the remaining songs being mostly furious blasters. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but Inverted Matter are at their least interesting when they’re sailing at fullspeed. While “Missing Link” does manage to add in a bit of  nuance with its restrained  blasts and somewhat more progressive structure, as well as some fantastic and prominent drum fills, it ultimately isn’t enough to pull the second half of Detach up to par with the first; especially given that abum closer, “Singularity” is quite a pointless instrumental outro that doesn’t even begin until a full minute in. Not a good trick to employ when you’re wanting your listeners to make it through that last little stretch.

Overall, I would call Detach a success for Inverted Matter. While it’s not a perfect album,  it is pretty damn good. The album is full of driving rhythms, compelling drum work, and quality guitar leads/solos in every track, not to mention a great vocal performance. What more do you really want in your death metal? Honestly, judgement on Detach is going to depend on how you feel about turn of the century Floridian death metal and whether you percieve it as good shit or simply shit. As for me, I love me some Florida flavored metal of death and I’m probably seeing Inverted Matter through somewhat rose colored glasses, but as the saying goes, “that’s life”. Now if the band would only do something about that ridiculous connect-the-dots looking logo…and lose the giant bed bug theme and any possible affiliates when it comes to future album covers too…

[Visit the band's website]

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