Do you know this feeling?
You come home from a hard, stressful workday and really don’t want to deal with anything or anyone anymore; you just want some peace. However, there’s an inner restlessness that tells you all that stress needs to be released somehow. The gym is too expensive, the punching bag in the hallway is worn out, and Counter Strike isn’t fun anymore. What to do?
Beat up neighbors, scream at little kids for no reason, or destroy your own furniture?
All measures that one could take, but they are nonsense.
It’s better to put on the new album by INNER SPIRIT. The Rügen-based label Rügencore Records, run by members of the band C.O.R., has taken on the combo from Rostock and released their second album.
The band calls their sound Metal - Punk, which is somewhat surprising. Metal and Punk, can that work? Upon first listening to the record, the sound already embeds itself in your ear.
To answer the previous question: “Yes, it can work very well.”
The guys from the Baltic coast clearly come from Metal. The heavily produced, hard-hitting drums and the booming, deep guitars emphasize this. The vocals are powerful and often quite hardcore-oriented, with the boundaries to Metal and Metalcore being fluid.
What touches on the realm of Punk, however, are the melodies, which are clearly not classic Metal melodies and cannot deny their origins in Punk and Hardcore. The brutal sound shows that the guys have only marginally grown up with punk rock. Maybe they’ve heard The Exploited once, but otherwise, the Hardcore and Metalcore roots are the most present.
The music of INNER SPIRIT can rightly be described as captivating. As a little treat for those who enjoy bands with unique features, it should be noted that the Rostockers also incorporate percussion into their songs. These elements add a significant punch and make the sound even harder. In the last song, there’s even a little solo of it.
INNER SPIRIT are really fun, even after multiple listens. What can be challenging, however, is the tendency to keep turning the volume knob further to the right. I believe I’m currently blasting half the street I live on.
The Rostockers have done a lot right with “Last Beat in Sight.”
Listening in and giving the band a chance is highly recommended.
