FMA Reviews: Convulse: Inner Evil

Originally reviewed here.

Convulse has been missing in action for years now. The band once released one of the most interesting death metal albums ever at a time when death metal was still fresh and new. As such, they were often thrown in the same conversation as groups like Demilich, groups that brought something strange and exciting to death metal. They released one more album after World Without God and were seemingly lost to time. They re-emerged this year.

Owing to the re-release of their stunning debut album and the revitalization of old school death metal, Convulse have come back from the dead. This is just a teaser unfortunately, a very brief two-song return to the fold. With any luck it does mean that we will be seeing a new full-length from the Finnish death metallers.

One thing that Convulse did well in their first go-around was marry death metal and doom metal into a sickening and chaotic sound that had not really been done before. This was well before there was such a thing as death/doom. Convulse always stuck clearly on the death metal side of things, it is just that they had the occasional slower, down-tempo moment. But their music still sounded as if it was rising out of a deep and dank pit leading to hell. It was dark and disturbing. They have proven with this release that the years have not caused them to lose their touch. This sounds like it should have come shortly after their last album was released in 1994. Age has not caused them to lose any of their gift for crafting rotting and putrid death metal.

Hopefully Convulse can translate this impressive two-track EP into a full-length album. This thing sounds pretty damn good and there just are not enough bands that sound like this.