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IZEGRIM
Congress Of The Insane

Listenable (2013)
Rating: 8/10

Izegrim is a fearsome quartet who hails from the Netherlands. They formed back in 1996 and are fronted by Marloes Voskuil – one of the most formidable female voices in the extreme metal genre whose bass playing is as equally frightening. Congress Of The Insane is the fourth opus from the band and alongside Voskuil features the twin guitar attack of Bart van Ginkel and Jeroen Wechgelaer, and drum warlock Ivo Maarhuis.

Those of you unfamiliar with Izegrim will no doubt find this new 11-track platter a real head jerker such is its vicious attitude. Although boasting a rather clear production Congress Of The Insane revels in its variety of pace and polished angst, and immediately it crushes its ancestor, 2011’s Code Of Consequences, in its weighty wake.

Despite its rather tepid cover art, complete with none-too scary clown, Congress Of The Insane really doesn’t disappoint, and it’s the vocal delivery of Voskuil which enables this beast to take on an even more hideous and aggressive form. Voskuil has such a rampant, frothing sneer that the band maintains their levels of comfort at experimenting with pacey thrash and loose death metal – the result being that Izegrim are quite a force to be reckoned with.

The other main quality on this opus is Izegrim’s ability to shift between a real furious pace and then to suddenly slow to a more menacing chug. Thankfully, the riffs sport a lot of meat and don’t grate on the soul like so many of these blackened thrash / death bands tend to do, thus meaning that there is accessibility to proceedings rather than an ashen air of remoteness. The guitars are flesh-ripping throughout and due to their volatile nature there seems to be little time for solos, but when they do come they are more than welcome and give the record a classic metal feel rather than flail wildly – ‘Endless Strife’ being a prime example of how the band drift between menace and melody and inject those steely solos.

It could be argued that there is nothing dazzling about the Izegrim sound but one can’t help be battered by the crunch of ‘Relic Of The Past’ with its old school values, nor the rattle ’n’ roll of ‘Celebratory Gunfire’ with its pounding rhythm section and the catchy chorus which infects the soul. For me, there is something extremely reliable about the Izegrim sound, and although this has been something that in the past may have hindered them, I feel that this time round the band are more focused on being something more than just another European extreme metal act. There is certainly more variety with this opus and tracks such as ‘Manifest Of Megalomaniac’ and album closer ‘Carnival Of Deception’ prove this point, yet still maintain high levels of belligerence.

Congress Of The Insane should keep the old fans happy but also adhere them to new crowds, because these guys are getting stronger and stronger as they plough their way through the blood-soaked fields.

Neil Arnold

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