I.N.C. - Terrible Things (2019)

While Black Hearse Serenade was a sizable improvement over the first 'reunion' era album from I.N.C., Terrible Things is a bit more of a baby step forward in quality, and an album that sounds like a quintessential slice of New York thrash, an evolution of the style that bands like Anthrax and Overkill laid out throughout the 80s. In fact, it's an album that is very likely to appeal to fans of those two bands, especially if you were keen on their material through the 90s when they were trying to explore their sound envelopes a bit more with some groove metal, but not limited to that. This album also drops off a bit of the Pantera sound I felt had infested the two albums prior to it...perhaps not entirely, but it's been replaced here by some good gang shouts and a lot more fast, thrashing energy, threaded with some classical, memorable leads like in "Identifier".

This album hits hard and it hits quick, packing a lot of punch into 3-4 minute tracks, and almost always having a nice surprise tucked in there like the harmonized, higher pitch shouts at the climax of the aforementioned "Identifier". They use some catchy, descending harmonies akin to stuff that you'd hear from Slayer or Testament in their classic phases, and the selection of riffs through the album is an even balance of the powerful-but-predictable sort and others that are just plain neat. Not only is the music the best they've written in the 21st century, but the vocals are really on point here, with a kind of blend of shouts, barks and melodic chorus parts that almost seems like a mix of modern Anthrax and Germany's Paradox (check the chorus for "Declaration"). Power/thrash metal would not be a bad tag for this stuff. The bass tone is better, the drumming is exactly what it needs, and like the prior album they incorporate plenty of dynamics from outright frenzied thrashing to some brief and appreciable breakdowns that don't ever teeter on cheese. It's also a consistent disc, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, like there'd be 3-4 good songs and then the rest might be rubbish, but the quality is evenly distributed throughout, and I think some of the better chorus parts and riffs are even backloaded on the thing.

A few of the lyrics are a bit too plebeian and mediocre, and as I said only about half the riffs are really sticky, but Terrible Things thwarts its own namesake to easily take the crown of anything I.N.C. has accomplished since its reformation. The effort and resilience here really shine through, and this is one I'd have no problem recommending to fans of modern 21st century thrash which doesn't take too many bites of the retro pizza, but attempts to enhance or re-imagine a band's primal 80s style into a modern context. I think there's just as much an appeal to Euro thrash or power/thrash fans of Destruction, Artillery, Accuser, After All, and Paradox as I.N.C.'s own New York peers. It doesn't have the quirky personality that their first two albums had 30 years ago, and if I were in the mood for I.N.C. those are what I'd still reach for, but if you think of this last decade's releases as a different band, this abolishes its predecessors, and hints at even greater potential going forward. It's also pretty satisfying to hear a veteran band bounce back like this after splashing around in the stagnant puddle that was Heaven Sent...Hellbound. I.N.C. is now worthy of your radar again.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://incband.com/

I.N.C. - Black Hearse Serenade (2014)

While they were never in contention as being one of the better East Coast thrash bands in the 80s, the Indestructible Noise Command was still a silly, fun group which clearly put some effort into their riff-sets. In fact, they actually had come up with a pretty unique sound that I found easily identifiable, separate from their humorous peers in Ludichrist or M.O.D. So it was sort of a bummer that over two decades later they'd release an EP and third album which felt as if they'd been corroded by banal 90s groove metal influences to the extent that they really didn't sound much like the same group. Oh, you could still tell they were thrash at the core, but the personality of those Giant Records releases was all but scraped off the bone and we were presented with something that didn't really have much to offer anyone who actually had nostalgia for I.N.C. in their formative years, or really any fan looking for a decent thrashing in 2010-2011, whether contemporary or retro.

However, while Heaven Sent...Hellbound could have just been a one and done (or one and a half and done with the Bleed the Line EP) midlife crisis attempt to tug at their roots, it turned out these dudes were serious about being back, and a few years later release Black Hearse Serenade. Right from the onset, this is an album that certainly doesn't look like it's fooling around, and probably not endowed with the comical elements that made their first two that endearing. Indeed, this album sounds like a hybrid of Pantera, Pissing Razors and Anthrax, still moored in some 90s groove influences but to be honest, there's quite a lot of honest thrashing material here which is far superior to the material they dropped in 2011. Busy, hard-hitting riff patterns that constantly keep you guessing, even when they burst out into some pretty vapid grooves, and some decent guitar leads, speed picked harmonies, and so forth. They certainly sound like they were technically proficient enough to compete along the groove/thrash hybrids we heard a lot of through the mid to late 90s, but with a production that suits this past decade snugly. You can tell there is quite a lot of effort placed into the composition and the execution throughout the entire album, and the riffs often border the technical, with a lot of punchy muted patterns devoted to making an audience's necks sore, potentially other body parts.

Now, don't let me deceive you into thinking I liked this one all that much, because for all that work put into the instruments, they almost all fly in one ear and out the other. The note selections are just not all that catchy, and while it's busy stuff, and unpredictable, it's not ultimately interesting. I also didn't care so much for the vocals...unlike the early years of I.N.C., Dennis' style here is like a schizoid combination of Phil Anselmo's tough guy drawl and Belladonna's soaring New York clean vocal style, perhaps even dusted with a little of the John Bush style in the chorus parts. Once again, plenty of effort when into building these vocal lines, they never feel cheap or ill-conceived, but I think it's just that I'm not really into the style other than some of the songs from its originators. If you put this side to side with Razorback or The Visitor, it really doesn't sound like the same band at all, and about a decade too late for when it could have made its maximum impact. That said, this one is far better than Heaven Sent...Hellbound, it's much better than stuff like Damageplan, and I found myself appreciating at least that this band took the style it was using a few years earlier, sharpened it up and went all out here. I think if you're looking for something like a more 'purely thrash' Pantera then this one might be worth your time to at least check out, but I'll stick with the early stuff.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://incband.com/

I.N.C. - Heaven Sent...Hellbound (2011)

Last year's Bleed the Line comeback EP was the product of a notably different and disappointing I.N.C. than their 80s incarnation. For some reason, the band had 'grown up' in the worst way, forsaking the frivolous and riffy style of their youths, with slightly ridiculous lyrics, for a straight to the bargain bin amalgamation of 90s groove/thrash metal circa Pantera, Pissing Razors, Machine Head, Exhorder, and perhaps a bit of the more modern Exodus sound (the Rob Dukes fronted albums). The tragedy wasn't so much that the band had mutated upon reformation, but that they chose to more closely mimic an era which in itself was somewhat out of phase. The new material was not necessarily the laziest I've heard, and they anchored it with the solid production values one would expect of its 90s influences, but ultimately the songwriting was an indistinct bummer.

It was highly unlikely that this new direction of old was going to be a random one-off, so at long last the band's third full-length has arrived in Heaven Sent...Hellbound, and it's not a 180 back to the band's finer, formative works, but a direct continuation of the EP's sound. In fact, the whole bloody Bleed the Line track list is regurgitated into the album, so already we are not off to a running start. Of the newer, unheard material, you've got a pretty standard, swaggering tough guy groove/thrash song in "Fist of Fascista", in which the vocals sound almost entirely like a doppelganger of Phil Anselmo, Kyle Thomas or Sacred Reich's Phil Rind, and the bland chugging guitars never develop even a modicum of unique personality. "Swallowed" is total groove metal in the riffing vein of Down or Corrosion of Conformity, while "The Good Bones Stay Down" opens with a slower alternation on one of the "Master of Puppets" guitars; and both "Audio Erotic Asphyxiation" and "It's Coming" feel as if they should be wedged in between Cowboys from Hell and Far Beyond Driven, sans Dimebag's oft admirable ear for riffs.

As for the musicianship, this approach almost never brings out the best of a band. The rhythm guitar patterns sound like the equivalent of random bar or Ozzfest bands throughout the 90s, some nearly sinking to Godsmack levels of disinterest. Once in awhile, they'll attempt a bridge or lead with some personality ("It's Coming" has a good example of this nearing the 4 minute mark), but their guitars just don't seem as inventive as Razorback or The Visitor, which took the blocky power of classics Master of Puppets or Taking Over into a spunky, light hearted territory with some real character. The vocals really piss me off, because Gergely used to have this quirky nasal tone to him that set them apart, where here, he sounds too much like the aforementioned bruisers. Heaven Sent...Hellbound really has only one thing in its favor, and that would be the professional mix of the material: you can hear everything clearly, and the guitars have a nice punch, even when the note selection is not all that exciting.

If the songs were more memorable, then I.N.C. might be forgiven, but unfortunately this just isn't written at the same level as something like Cowboys from Hell, with the crushing muscle and catchy chorus sequences. Today's interest in the thrash genre seems to lie exclusively with 80s authenticity (or 80s clones), or those few technical wizards (Vektor, etc) that continue to develop it along the axis of progression set by prototype acts like Voivod, Mekong Delta, etc, so who knows what will come of this? It's not that this Connecticut troupe were ever really a first class thrash act to begin with, but there was something charming and unique about those first two albums, and it's distressing that they weren't able to wrest out any of that original magic after the 20+ year hiatus. Heaven Sent...Hellbound is a more substantial product than the EP, despite the obvious redundancies, but I definitely wasn't feeling it.

Verdict: Fail [4/10]

http://incband.com/

I.N.C. - Bleed the Line EP (2010)

20 years have passed since the Connecticut thrashers I.N.C. parted ways, but nevertheless they have decided to piece themselves back together and give it another go. This is not an unusual occurrence in recent times, with many of the lesser known, cult acts from the 80s doing the same due to the recent surge in the genre's popularity; a wave of younger, internet-studied fans diving into obscurity for authentic experiences and ripening the prospect. Razorback ('87) and The Visitor ('88) were not enormously popular ventures, but both were heavy on riffs and light on flavor, and they did leave a taste on the buds of firm potential.

A lot of the snarky flair from their previous albums is missing from this EP, and that's rather sad, because they once had a fairly unique perspective on the style, charismatic if not colossal. Three of the original band members have returned: vocalist Dennis Gergely, and guitarists Erik Barath and Tony Fabrizi; and they've got a few heavy hitters joining them, including drummer Dennis Leeflang who has worked with a number of artists in and out of metal, and a guest spot by Guns & Roses guitarist 'Bumblefoot' (who has worked with Leeflang before also). To be sure, Bleed the Line retains a measure of it's 'thrash' values, but what I'm hearing here is very heavily in the vein of 90s thrash/groove like Exhorder and Pantera, with almost all of the band's thrifty, characteristic 80s riffing gone to a duller palette of predictable if professional thrashing.

The first two tracks, "God Loves Violence" and "Bleed the Line" are crushing but not all that interesting, sounding similar to Sacred Reich or the faster, bludgeoning material from Phil Anselmo and crew, with Gergely shifting between his mid ranged ballast and a metallic scream, which frankly, I rather enjoyed (the screams), and would like to hear a lot more of. "Rain" builds a massive, crushing groove to start, but then devolves into some rather vapid groove/heavy rock that once again recalls the Texas tyrants. "Full Metal Jacket" begins with a sample from the film of the same name, a sample that's probably been done to death, and then another faster paced track that will make you want to howl 'fucking hostile!' at some point. "If I Were President" is the most interesting track on the release, a mix of brickhouse shitkicking thrash with some doomed grooves, but it's still not a standout, and by the time "Fueled by Regret" busts out into its chugga chugga metalcore/thrash riff, I was already fueled by that very same emotion.

It's pretty bad, I'm not going to lie, but perhaps the biggest disappointment with this is that I just hear so little of the original I.N.C. in this sound. Granted, with any 20-year career gulf and some lineup changes, I expect to hear something at least marginally different than the original incarnation. That's a given. Yet Bleed the Line could have been released by any half-witted bar band worshiping Pantera, Skinlab, Slayer and Machine Head, and the Indestructible Noise Command that I remember is so much better than what was written for this. It's not the worst thing I've heard; the mix of the EP is polished and hard hitting, but the spunk and spirit of these old schoolers who once wrote "Dry Heaves" and "Razorback" is almost completely absent, and I, for one, will miss it...

Verdict: Fail [3.25/10]

http://incband.com/

I.N.C. - The Visitor (1988)

Oh, Christ...cover the eyes man, cover the eyes. Well, I guess it could have been worse, because at least this cover art features some semblance of a logo, and who knows...maybe the aliens really did look like that, and it's an accurate rendition. But what really matters is the music, and I.N.C. deliver here an album that wallops its predecessor in every category. The songwriting is tighter and more impressive, without losing any of the bands bludgeoning guitar tone. The sense of humor has been ramped up, especially through the first three tracks, and in lesser hands...this may have shattered my appreciation for the album. But Indestructible Noise Command are having a genuine good time, and I remember listening to this album many times over when it came out.

The roster was not altered for the sophomore outing, and Gergely's vocals have honestly improved, with more of an aggressive snarl to them which slices through the dense rhythmic chugging like a fine knife through a thick head of cheese. The songs are also a lot shorter in general, with a few that pass the 6 minute mark, and of these, only "Bedtime Stories" manages to briefly grind on the nerves for a little too much of the chug rhythm.

But first, the inimitable "Dry Heave", a song both punishing and fun. Funishing! After an opening segment of some of the most extra-terrestrial vomiting that I've ever heard, I.N.C. charges straight into one of the happiest thrash metal rhythms of all time, eclipsed only by the laughable and awesome chorus: Your words and thoughts are equal to a fuckin' drunken dry heave! It sounds like a television commercial, but the verse guitars are so explosive that I feel the strings of my 16 year old moshing control begin to tug at me. "Bedtime Stories" follows, which is mostly a moshing slog ala Speak English or Die, improving wherever it picks up in pace. "What Are You Looking At?" is the longest song on The Visitor, but it's built over dynamic thrash riffs, and one of Gergely's most insane vocals, as he opens several verse lines with Tom Araya-like screams. "Thunder Struck" is another riffing beast, a dark hammer of thrash knocking you upside the jaw, even though the lyrics are a little quirky.

Impossible to stop the pain once i have begun
Break your legs in seven places
Than I'll let you run
Traveling at the speed of sound
Hear my engine roar
When you think it's over I'll be coming back for more.

Say what? Next, "The Visitor" arrives with its implied alien invasion, a tale of humanity that must endure the unknown to protect their domain over Earth. Okay, so it's not quite this epic in value, but the riffs are worthy of any War of the Worlds parody and there is a great breakdown with some busy bass and chuggernaut guitars. "Scammed Again" is one of my favorite I.N.C. tracks, Gergely screaming in step with the opening guitar volley, and then more of their super fun anthems like "Dry Heave". A very calming song, with a message of peace to all the cons and crooks of 80s advertising. I love it! "Hypodermic Coastline" has a nice intro, with some Spanish guitar work that has little in common with its lyrical theme...for this is about the pollution of our Earth seas, and has the best scream of the word 'Bacteria' in all human history. And of all fucking things, the Indestructible Noise Command crowns off the album (and their career) with a cover of The Cars' "Candy-O", which sounds fun with the chugging guitars but not a far cry from the original.

The Visitor holds a lot of good memories, but beyond the nostalgic factor it's also not void of musical merit. Most of the songs are packed with catchy rhythms and I'm surprised the band did not achieve a higher measure of success, confined to the vinyl dustbins where most thrash of the late 80s was unfortunately sentenced to a long death. The album is, at times, stupid, but never pretends otherwise, and the riffs are a little more complex and engaging than on Razorback. It still sounds pretty good, having lost only a little audio shine since its release. If you enjoy fun thrash metal, like Anthrax' earlier work or some of today's retro crop like Municipal Waste, then it might tickle you to listen to this.

Highlights: Dry Heave, Thunder Struck, The Visitor, Scammed Again

Verdict: Win [7.75/10] (your words are empty, just like your head)

I.N.C. - Razorback (1987)

I.N.C., also known as Indestructible Noise Command, are one of the few Connecticut metal bands to ever make a name for themselves, though not a name to be spoken as loud as Liege Lord, or even a fraction as loud as Fates Warning. They also are responsible for two of the worst examples of cover art to appear during the thrash explosion of the 80s, and for this they must be hunted down and reprimanded, for I do believe they have shaken off responsibility to this day. Razorback was their debut, and unlike those other, better known kinetic-cunt bands, I.N.C. played an egregious brand of thrash metal. But a sense for dynamic, fairly unique riffing, and a humorous, dorky flavor helped land them a deal with Giant records.

This is not the better of their two albums, and the quality does feel inconsistent; but there are still quite a few memorable moments driven home by the twin, chugging axe mayhem. Yes, I.N.C. had one of the thicker, punchier guitar tones of the day, and they have a tendency to make the material sound fresh, even today. Erik Barath and Tony Fabrizi used bands like Metallica and Anthrax as a base, then got rather playful, with some cutting lead work and an infestation of 'fun' into every rhythm, like fleas that have found an oasis in your armpits. Dennis Gergely has a bipolar vocal range, which bounces from a laissez-faire tone to a sharp, nasal aggression. I can forgive him this, as he is also playing the bass and doing a decent job, not afraid to offset the guitars with a fill here or a popping there. Drummer Gary Duguay anchors the quartet with some solid, energetic skin bashing.

Like most thrash bands, a song title featuring your own namesake was mandatory, and "Indestructible Noise Command" christens the debut with over 8 minutes of frivolous, chunky thrash. The riffs tend towards quality, though I feel a few moments could have been shorn off for a more consistent experience. Likewise, "The Grip of Death" also runs for too long, almost 8 minutes itself, and there are simply not enough good riffs to support its framework, nor even a song half the length. You get an S.O.D. mosh slugfest and a cool thrust behind the leads late in the song, otherwise it's one of the worst on the album. "War Not Words" is an improvement, trotting along with some fun rhythms straight from the Master of Puppets school, though Gergely does not sound enthusiastic enough in the chorus. But at least it's shorter and tighter fare. "Anarchy (The Pursuit of Happiness)" has a pretty fanciful melodic rhythm after :30 which showcases the band's creativity within the thrash realm, and some good leads, though once more the vocals could be better.

Let's go do some shopping
Let's go out tonight
We'd better wear our asbestos suits
Cause you don't know when you'll ignite

At this point, I.N.C. revisits the epic song structure, with title track "Razorback". But unlike its predecessors, the 7+ minutes of the song does not feature much in the way of filler. A tight song throughout, with lyrics celebrating the bad horror movies of the 80s, but if I had one complaint it would again be that the lyrics sound rather bored these many years later. "Fists of the Mighty" is another briefer cut with some puncturing riffs that belong on Master of Puppets' little sister, and "Fear" is your typical anti-pollution anthem, though there is some good bass in this one and some interesting if inconsistent riff quality. The band saves the best for last, as the melodic mutes of "Passageway to Purgatory" lead into some excellent momentum, and the lead flurries kick some serious ass as they flutter above the best rhythm guitar work on the album.

Razorback shows that I.N.C. could have been a contender, if not for a few glaring flaws. The vocal performance is average at best, and 'blah' for the remainder of the album. This may have a lot to do with his bass playing, which is rock solid, so they didn't want to mislead you as to how the live performances were going to sound...but a better foot forward in this department would have drastically improved the album quality. The lyrics are not as silly here as on the follow-up The Visitor, or it might have been worse. The writing for the guitars is very positive throughout, though a few of the earlier songs could have done with an edit in length. Not a bad album for nostalgic purposes, or for moshing in your bedroom with a beer.

Highlights: Razorback, Fists of the Mighty, Passageway to Purgatory

Verdict: Win [7/10] (the death card has been signed)