Review from The Sleeping Shaman

June 22, 2023
From: The Sleeping Shaman
Published: June 19, 2023

Three years ago, during the middle of a pandemic, needing something to occupy my mind beyond confinement with my then five-year-old daughter, I submitted my first review as a reviewer for The Sleeping Shaman. At the time, I had no real awareness of where this new journey would lead me, but as a fan of heavy music for over thirty-something years, I always felt that I had it in me to at least talk a good album. Since then, I have reviewed some phenomenal records, interviewed some truly lovely people, and have witnessed some live performances which I would have otherwise been completely oblivious to, if it wasn’t for The Sleeping Shaman.

Jump forward three years, and for my anniversary review I have the absolute honour of reviewing the debut album by New York four-piece Inherus. Now, even though you may well have no knowledge of the band, if I were to say the band features members of Forlesen, Witchkiss, Swallow The Ocean, and Lotus Thief, I’m sure the response would be a resounding ‘oh I know them’…. Well, I hope so anyways.

So, what we have here is a melding of those elements and the unleashing of a brand-new band, a sum of its parts you could say as the album is both doom laden and post-rock in equal measures, with a dark ambience thrown in rounding out their sound.

Beholden is six tracks and comes in at just around an hour’s worth of music, so it’s got some bang for your buck. It’s a goliath of an album, which when played doesn’t even feel like an hour in length. It’s a truly engaging, brutal assault on the senses, coming from not one, but two angles. I say this because for every heavy element – the growls, the blast beats, and the chaotic guitar breaks – there are paralleled moments of lethargic ambience, and a deep passion in the music, which transcends genre and category.

The first two tracks, Forgotten Kingdom and One More Fire set the stage. The former and album opener, hits right from the off, and leaves no confusion on just what this band is capable of. Hard hitting and abrasive, its predominantly driven by a harsh guttural vocal against a background of thunderous drum, and ferocious guitar work. By the same token, it only seems to ease off every time Beth Gladding’s vocal comes in, its like having hard edges, with a soft gooey centre.

One More Fire offers a ying to the yang, and where abrasiveness is the name of the game on the opening track, with track two, it’s all about that other side of the band. It feels deeper, less instant, and without so much of that throat punch feel the opener provides. Again, there are peaks and troughs, and each time the growled vocal comes in, the atmosphere changes to suit.

Not to lessen the first two tracks, but it’s three and four where I really fall for the band. The Dagger is a slower paced, and warmer track for me. Beth’s vocals are what I find joy in throughout this whole album anyway, but here it is sublime. There is a truly insane soaring guitar solo too which needs applauding specifically. This track is, for lack of any better description, simply awesome.

Oh Brother, track four, does nothing but solidify just how incredible this band are at catching that all-encompassing, soul filling goodness which we all look for within our music. At times it reminds me a little of one of my long-time favourites, EMBR, with the exception of the vocals, which is softer, and more pensive in tone. All the way through this piece it showcases how wonderful this band are, each musical element is fantastic, and the overall outpouring is justifiably superb. I also find with this track, that the use of combining the vocal elements works better than separating them out, and while it does drive them towards Lacuna Coil territory, it’s more unique in texture.

While the instrumental track Obliterated In The Face Of Gods offers a moment of respite, it only serves as to get the listener ready for track six, Lie To The Angels as its where the band throw everything they are into the mix, and my god, is it something wondrous.

After a funky little guitar introduction, the other instrumental elements crash in and lift this up into the stratosphere. The mix of vocal styles is more organic, which is a bonus for sure. The breakdowns give an opportunity to explore for one last time those more ambient elements, and for me, that’s a real win. By the final third you know it is gearing up to an apocalyptic finish, and it really doesn’t disappoint. Everything, from blast beats, to growled vocals, and those heavy abrasive factors kick in to push it over the edge. All that’s left is one final hurrah, and this comes courtesy of Beth’s vocals as it slips away into nothingness.

Initially apprehensive, Beholden has grown and grown with each listen as I take more and more from it. Coming away, I would feel safe in saying that this is truly a new benchmark being set, and if you get a chance, don’t shy away, as Inherus really are something incredible.

Reviewed by: Lee Beamish

 

Review from Rocking.gr

June 22, 2023
From: Rocking.gr
Published: June 16, 2023

Σε μια συγγενική ηχητική κατάσταση με μπάντες όπως οι Forlesen και οι Lotus Thief - με τους οποίους εξάλλου μοιράζονται δύο μέλη - οι Inherus παραδίδουν ένα αντίστοιχα πολύχρωμο και πολυστιλιστικό έργο. Το doom είναι μάλλον το κυρίαρχο στυλ εδώ, οι έξι μακροσ...

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Review from Metal Storm

June 22, 2023
From: Metal Storm
Published: June 15, 2023

Across the likes of Lotus Thief, Forlesen and Botanist, Beth Gladding (aka Bezaelith) has demonstrated an inclination towards music that is atmospheric and/or unusual; her latest project Inherus continues this trend.

Gladding joined a project initially formed by Anthony DiBlasi (Witchkiss), Brian Harrigan (Swallow The Ocean) and Andrew Vogt (Lotus Thief, Swallow The Ocean), and the sludgy, doomy natures of Witchkiss and Swallow The Ocean gi...

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Review from Metal.de

June 22, 2023
From: Metal.de
Published: June 14, 2023

Metal aus New York? Da dürften die ersten Assoziationen klar sein. BIOHAZARD, du bist gemeint! Das auf „Beholden“ von INHERUS ein anderer Wind weht, dürfte beim Anblick der mythologisch angehauchten Flora und Fauna des Artworks obligatorisch sein.

Mit links kurz angetäuscht, mit rechts locker verwandelt – INHERUS gehen den Weg des langsamsten Widerstands
Mit dem Opener „Forgotten Kingdom“ startet das Debütalbum der New Yorker, mit...

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Review from Grind On The Road

June 13, 2023
From: Grind On The Road
Published: June 11, 2023

Non si può certo dire che in casa Hypnotic Dirge Records abbiano lesinato sul senso di vertigine, fissando l’altezza dell’asticella delle attese nel booklet che ha accompagnato l’arrivo in redazione dell’album di esordio di un quartetto su cui evidentemente la label portoghese/canadese ha deciso di puntare carte importanti, ma, oltre ai doverosi e meritati complimenti per la qualità formale del booklet (tutt’altro che sco...

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Review from Stalker Magazine

June 13, 2023
From: Stalker Magazine
Published: June 9, 2023

Inherus stammt aus Hudson Valley, New York, und wurde im Sommer 2018 von Brian Harrigan und Anthony DiBlasi gegründet. Andrew Vogt stieß kurz darauf dazu und Beth Gladding vervollständigte später nach einer Audition das Line-up. Das Quartett lässt sich von einem breiten Spektrum an musikalischen und kreativen Einflüssen inspirieren und vermischt verschiedene Elemente kreativ miteinander um neue Klänge zu schmieden.

Das 60-min Alb...

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Review from Zwaremetalen

June 13, 2023
From: ZWaremetalen
Published: June 9, 2023

Wat je vaak ziet als een genre overbevolkt raakt, is dat bands gaan zoeken naar elementen van andere genres om deze te integreren in het geluid. In dat opzicht is het niet gek dat je steeds meer bands ziet die post metal met andere genres combineren. Inherus is bijvoorbeeld zo’n band. Het gezelschap maakt een mengeling van doom en post metal. Dat is op zich niet zo vernieuwend en vaker gedaan, maar de band geeft daar ook een zweem van ps...

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Review from Machine Music

June 7, 2023
From: Machine Music
Published: June 3, 2023

If all these bodies, metaphorical or otherwise, piling up in the dank basement of this post then rest assured – angelic, etherial doom is here to save your souls. The music here is obviously wonderful, transitioning from doom to post-metal atmospheres and sometimes prog. So, grade-A shit. But I'm here for Bezaelith's voice, sorry. That's just the way it goes. Like a ray of moonlight in vocal form. What a gift. FFO: Forlesen, Empress, Su...

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Review from Musipedia of Metal

June 6, 2023
From: Musipedia of Metal
Published: June 2, 2023
Original Link

Having a look online at where Inherus sit musically their members have come from various bands such as Witchkiss, Botanist, Swallow The Ocean and Lotus Thief to name but four. It’s labelled as a mix of post-metal and heavy rock that takes in black metal, doom, psyche on its musical journey.

So, when it starts with a roar and a warm guitar sound that bows at the alter of the Lord Tony Iommi it’s not what I expected at all. Forgotte...

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Review from Noob Heavy

June 6, 2023
From: Noob Heavy
Published: June 2, 2023
Original Link

It’s been almost a year since Hypnotic Dirge Records has given us any new music, having closed up their original base of operations in Canada last Summer and moved everything to Portugal. After some unfortunate logistical snafus, the gates to the kingdom have reopened, and a flood of new releases are already lined up. Last month saw the release of the sophomore album from death/doom titans Orphans of Dusk (their first in 8 years!), and now...

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 Released: May 26, 2023
Genre: Doom Metal

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