Description

Dark olive colored vinyl with insert. Limited 400 numbered copies

Germany’s Dew-Scented have built a substantial body of work since releasing their debut album Immortale back in 1996. Drawing influence from classic German thrash bloodlines and manipulating them into their own deathlier take on modern thrash. Dew-Scented’s instrumental abilities can never be doubted and their music rips and burns at a cracking pace. The band would get a loyal fan base in time when they started incorporating more thrash influences but when you go back to the early years you will find that the band was once a more influenced by death metal band. Their second album, Innoscent, was released back in 1998 and its something very different from 2003’s Impact or even 1999’s Ill-Natured, both of which were lethal sprints through thrash-covered territory. Here, we are still in the wasteland before speed became the sole focus, meaning that a song like Burn With Me progresses at a crushing slow pace more familiar to fans of Autopsy or Obituary, even conjuring some of the melodic shapes of the latter band in its majestic conclusion. The flavor here is also considerably sicker, Leif Jensen vomiting up some John Tardy impressions at times and roaring like a beast when the double bass kicks off behind him. All in all, this album is inessential for any fans of Dew-Scented’s post-millenial output, but a fun blast for those who wish their death metal could include a bit more pace and groove without totally discarding atsmophere and underground production values. In fact, despite the lack of innovation, most elements that make up the album come from a recognizable source, whether that be the flat-out death metal of the Swedish scene, the slower, sicker death of Obituary, or the melodic hooks of At the Gates, Innoscent is actually a very satisfying album that strikes more often than not, particularly on some of the more diverse numbers. If one overlooks the slight defects, this is a very rewarding experience.

Track list:
1. Shatteredinsanity
2. Bereaved
3. Burn With Me
4. Starspangled
5. The Sicker Things
6. Everred
7. The Grapes Of Wrath
8. Aentity
9. Underneath
10. Fatal If Swallowed-Overkill cover