INTRINSIC – Nails review

 INTRINSIC – Nails

Divebomb Records

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Intrinsic/126847387382243

There is an interesting story surrounding this release. It is a story that if I had to put under a title then I’d choose this one: “The Past Strikes Back”. It is a story that will make you draw your own conclusion, so let me tell it to you in the following lines.

INTRINSIC is a band that exists from the mid 80’s and had released until 1996 2 full length albums and an EP. 25 years ago the band recorded an album called “Nails”, but it was never released because the labels back then were not interested in releasing metal albums. The sessions of this record though were kept throughout these years and in our days Divebomb Records showed interest in releasing the album. Bad luck though stroke the band and found that their recordings were damaged. However where there is bad there is also good and the band found out that the original recording engineer had kept copies of the recordings and he said to them they could be rearranged. So the band asked the help of their fans and through crowd funding they managed to recreate the album “Nails”.

By listening to this release, I have to say that the music that the band plays here was tough to comprehend in that era not only because the taste of people in music has changed, but also because INTRINSIC have created a complicated metal sound for that era. The foundation of their sound is of course the thrash and power metal music, but they also blend this sound with rock music and other experimentations like in the song “Cannabis Sativa” which in a way reminded me of the song that SACRED REICH have created under the title “31 Flavors”.

The band plays power/thrash metal that is highly technical and yet never exaggerates. They actually stay on focus and create music that although is technical it is also direct and there is no point they sacrifice the substance in order to show off their skills. Finally the production is modern, dynamic and gives to the songs the sound quality that helps the listener to listen to them in every detail.

I think that fans of METAL CHURCH, METALLICA, SACRED REICH and ICED EARTH will enjoy this release.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis