After numerous years of silence, In Slaughter Natives is back with a vengeance.
This new album is one of industrial madness and dark ambient soundscapes that will leave ISN fans grinning (sinisterly) from
ear to ear. If you love the harshness of bands like Mental Destruction, but also gravitate towards the beautiful and
yet eerie sounds of Arcana or Raison d'Etre, than ISN will captivate you and at the same time, rake you over the coals.
Whether ISN is pursuing their menacing side with their whispered, yet abrasive/growled vocals and
addictive rhythms or lulling you into a false sense of security with angelic choirs, bells, or soft chimes, they never cease
to keep you chained to their foreboding industrial machine. Heck, the end of the song "Your Breed" is just plain demented,
with some 1930's/40's German (I think) song that interrupts the original direction of the song. At the same time, many
things are going on in the background including agonizing screams, a baby crying, and numerous other sounds and weird noises.
It's actually a really cool moment on the album.
Packaging and production on this release are very nicely done, as is the custom on CMI releases.
Lyrics are included on a few songs and on others they are not. Even though the lyrics seem simple and non-complicated
on the surface, it's not as easy as it seems to determine the direction that Jouni Havukainen is taking...although I have
my strong hunches. At one moment it seems that he is embracing evil as in "Tearing My Life Away"....."Time see time
hear, time/When all the time becomes/Facing death hearing the silent/I see devils tearing my life away." Then at another
moment he seems to be embracing some spiritual "good" in "As My Shield"....."He shall rise against my enemy/He delivers me
from death/From those who hated me he prepares me for battle/And gives me strength/You have given me your salvation/As my
shield." However, this same shield is earlier described as such...."Thick darkness was beneath his feet/Veiling
him with clouds/Dark as sinful water/Dark as your holy soul/Where no one can reach me/He is my shield/He is my saviour/He
is my shield." Kinda makes one wonder who this saviour is that he is speaking of. My guess from past knowledge
of In Slaughter Natives is that it's probably not the God of Christians. While there doesn't seem to be much offensive
lyrical-wise on the surface, there doesn't seem to be a lot of clarity either.
A bonus to this disc is that it also includes a video of the song "Clean Cathedral" off of their
1996 album Purgate My Stain. Pretty wacked out, but cool video. Fans of ISN should be very pleased with
this release. This is definitely an album that will be getting (and has already been getting) a bunch of playtime by
this reviewer. Very quality stuff and a great comeback by this artist who has been terrorizing minds since the late
'80's. (Review by Matt)
