Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Artist: Inmate
Label: Graviton Music Services
Release: 2012
Length: 50:00
Rating: 4.5/5
Mayflies are in more than plentiful supply on the Slovenian music sky, and let’s be honest, on the world’s too, so a critical listener digging for ideas that could at least force-feed them something beyond idea-less filler often has to resort to radical methods – if their urge to listen and keep up with the latest novelties doesn’t die out first, that is, leaving them behind an impenetrable wall of total rejection of naive pointlessness. In the case of Inmate, there are quite a few factors that could rob such a listener of full enjoyment. Say, the fact that the guys are Slovenian and have woven threads of metalcore into their melodic spectrum, and that in their musical genesis they allowed themselves to take what is usually in short supply – patience and a generous amount of time to record and polish a debut. Those who got hooked on melodic death metal in the vein of In Flames and never got tired of genre generics might prick up their ears, while skeptics threw in the towel after the first few bars and gave up on digging any deeper – to their own loss.
Without falling for instant recaps and sample-pack fashion commandments, I allowed myself a dose of the forgetting serum and put out of my mind the fact that Inmate are one of the truly above-average live bands in Slovenia, and before writing I also knocked out of my head the awareness that these young guys are aesthetes “per excellence” who simply know that music is listened to with the eyes too, and that rich marketing and commercial indoctrination with logos, stickers, flyers and the like go a long way. We’ve had more than our share of all of that over the past four years, while Inmate, in the manner of craftsmen, forged a good name for themselves and hammered into our heads the info that the day was approaching when the Slovenian and global universe would receive a firstborn that everyone would be drooling over. And April brought the birth of the first musical child in the series – the record Free At Last.
Finally, you could say, since there was more than enough marketing foreplay, and those waiting were curiously wondering whether the epic perseverance would pay off. Let me start with a confirmation: Free At Last is an album that feeds and satisfies those primary needs more than amply. The opening overture, which until now we were usually used to from heavily media-exposed names like Arch Enemy, In Flames, Dark Tranquility and the like, the track Inmate, sets out to immediately conjure up the right mood, tension and suspense, so that the climb to the peaks of musical pleasure becomes easier. The secret of a true delicacy is in the right ratio of all the spices, and Inmate prove right off the bat that they’re masters of the musical kitchen. Without Warning opens with a thundering bass and the surgical rhythm of the double bass drum, then the dense, well-tuned guitars of the guitar duo join the whole thing, and the passion ignites as if soaked in kerosene, set alight by the juicy and suitably raspy vocals. The sonic dialogue between all the musical building blocks is balanced and precise, with no flaws, cracks or superfluous rambling. Add the melodic, singing touches of guest vocalist Marko Duplišek, and you get instant bliss. The guitar duo of Aleš Kroflič and Andrej Bezjak weaves steel threads between the devastating, military-drilled rhythm and bold melodies, and that goes beautifully with the organic heartbeat of the Inmate universe and the rasping desire to enchant of visceral orator Mike Miklavžina. Inmate have power, punch, a fat and suitably dense sound, sharp distortion and good lyrics from the very first moment. The follow-up doesn’t loosen its death grip. Written In Blood is a textbook example of Swedish melody and death metal, or rather death-thrash craftsmanship, but this time the craftsmanship shouldn’t be taken as negative criticism. Four-minute gems polished with surgical precision, and under the carefully tailored skin, carefully chiseled muscles of a suitably restrained beast tense up and reveal themselves. Overcome serves up a slight hint of synthesizer bounce, which you hear a lot more among German underground phenomena like Raunchy and Caliban and the like, but it sounds, fitting for what’s on offer, organic, natural and just polished enough that the dictate of militant metrics doesn’t spoil the lift into the cracked sky of an imaginary crystal temple dedicated to the gods of fire and sweat. Inmate have graduated in the aesthetics of the aforementioned Arch Enemy, and the track Healing sounds as if Michael Amott himself wrote it and sent it to the guys. You could say: “Heard it, chewed it!”, but with precise execution Inmate allowed themselves to offer you (and all of us) a mass soaked in digestive juices that saves time, energy and the trip to the wider Europe, so we can get something good right at home, in the shelter of our own room. The rest doesn’t stray from the qualitative imperative of perfection, and the one thing that might bother you a little is that we somehow hit the peak with the very first track, and the rest keeps us in stressful elation for all 50 minutes of the record. So there are as many peaks as there are tracks, and among the higher-quality geysers of passion are tracks like the hit-ready Promises, then Angels, the melodic Victorious, and after that you can just keep going through the tracklist on the back of this truly tasty and delicious record (personally, I’m especially betting on the wonderful Lost In Words, though I admit that’s a matter of individual taste and momentary inspiration …). A thrash-perfected stampede of pleasure that has been tailored and fully adapted to modern times is well above the feeble average of the local output or, let’s be honest, completely on par with the metal artifacts of the new millennium. Praise is due for the outstanding performance and musical mastery of all the band members, among whom there’s simply no fragile or weak link.
The lack of flaws is almost tiring and makes you think that Inmate have simply reached their maximum with this well-thought-out first studio trip into the (un)known. The marriage of musical playing around with rock-solid standards makes you think that Slovenia is, more than to the Balkans and the sub-Alpine silage of tilted self-confidence, tied closer to northern Europe. Inmate achieved this illusion in symbiosis with production wizard Tat Purusha, who has so far created destructive beasts from the studio arsenal of bands like Negligence and Noctiferia. I believe it took paying a bit more than Slovenian garage nobodies usually shell out for debuts to get that magic touch of a wizard with full fingers, but the result is proportionate to the effort and investment. Free At Last is a textbook example of a well-played and well-produced record that crosses the borders of our little Slovenistan. Inmate have proven they’re ready to conquer the world, and that world stages can be something more than just an occasional holiday spot and a place to work off teenage ambitions. If for most people the dreams die after the first contact with reality, I’m convinced that for these Styrian metal grafters the bonfire of desire will burn even higher, stronger and louder than before. In the hope that we get the studio follow-up sooner than we got the debut, and that next time they step into the studio with an even bigger dose of homegrown, spontaneous ideas, we can only raise a toast to this first act and wish the band even more healthy, full and uncompromising ideas and fruitful collaborations! Inmate have fueled the belief this time that good and bright surprises are possible on this side of the Alps too, and let’s hope there’s still some strength left over for the further musical marathon. The first lap was run perfectly, with plenty of room for even more acceleration, artful acrobatics and overtaking the sleepy competition!
Lineup
Rok “Mike” Miklavžina – vocals
Aleš Kroflič – guitar
Andrej Bezjak – guitar
Sašo Bandalo – bass guitar
Jure Grudnik – drums
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Marko Duplišak – backing vocals
Production
Tat Purusha
Tracklist
1. Inmate
2. Without Warning
3. Written In Blood
4. Overcome
5. Healing
6. Fire, Walk With Me
7. Angels
8. Promises
9. Victorious
10. Free At Last
11. Inexorable Path
12. Lost In Words
13. Out Of The Darkness
14. Outmate
