Intonate intends to hold high canadian Death Metal’s colors.
Officially created in 2008 under the name of Deathlehem, the band releases an EP before changing name in 2013 and release an album. After they sign at Willowtip Records, Nicola Nucciarone (vocals/guitar), Dominic Nucciarone (drums), Ulysses Fiorito (guitar) and Jean-Philippe Matte (bass, Keys of Orthanc) offer us Severed Within, their second full-length.
The album begins with the heavy Sever, a composition with which we discover this impressive Death Metal with thick and sometimes Tech/Prog tones. The guitars’ dissonance meet massive howlings and a rhythmic basis composed of a shrilling bass and strong drums, like on Within, a more unhealthy song full of rage. The band doesn’t neglect technicality, but we feel riffs are more focused on raw tones and violent patterns. The sound is still as strange, and allows the band to continuously strike, while Yearn offers more airy riffs. The rhythmic construction is quite jerky, offering a good place to each instrument in due time, and picking into very diversified influences to build this oppressive rhythmic. The hypnotic solo is placed on a very haunting part, that will set the pace for the rest of the composition before this final explosion. Wander also offers quite heady tones, allowing the band to melt its violent basis with more soaring elements to offer a storm of interesting contrasts, that will regularly burst, then Prolong comes to close the album with complex riffs. The band offers a powerful technical show, surmounted by oppressive cavernous howlings that are added to the songs’ violence, before a break comes to change the rhythm and the atmosphere. Still suffocating, but less violent, this ambience will end with the song.
Very complex and suffocating, Severed Within allows Intonate to come back in the front of the stage. The crushing impact of this second highly awaited album reminds us the band’s roots while spreading strength and dissonance in a technical way.
80/100