July 2025 Feature Release - The Horde Edition
Another month flies by, which means it's time to nominate a new feature release for The Horde, so why not take a look at this slightly less popular classic from Denmark's Iniquity, "Serenadium" from 1996. If you happen to appreciate the more brutal & technical aspects of the clan's repertoire (Suffocation, Pyrexia, Deeds of Flesh) and don't mind a bit of keys thrown into the mix, you'll likely find plenty to enjoy on "Serenadium" as well. So, dive straight into the nuclear bomb of an opener, "Tranquil Seizure", and let me know what you think. Have a good one!
https://metal.academy/releases/18787
Got some unexpected respite from work this afternoon so threw this on. It's fucking amazing. Imagine a just as brutal, but less chaotic Suffocation. These dudes can play.
Yeah, I'm a long-time fan of this record which obviously sits right inside of my wheelhouse. Iniquity's other releases are all worth checking out too but "Serenadium" is clearly the standout in my opinion.
I was on an unplanned hiatus from death metal in 2025. The draw of death metal was starting to wear a bit thin unfortunately for me after some thirty-six years of listening to it. I mean I had heard all the classics already. Altars of Madness, Cause of Death, None So Vile, Dawn of Possession had all been on my turntable or in my CD player many times over the years. Cementing their place a little later than most of the above came Suffocation, with their brand of brutal and technical death metal hitting their peak on Pierced From Within. And so, in 2025, I soon found that my appetite for death metal had somewhat abated from what it was in its prime. Convinced that there was little out there to match anything I still bothered with, I took my attention to black metal and sludge/doom. Then Karl nominated this record for the feature in The Horde.
Copenhagen’s Iniquity were completely unknown to me going into this record. In fact, I don’t recall listening to much in the way of Danish death metal in my time. If it all sounds as good as Serenadium does, then I am 100% back from my death metal hiatus. This album is so much more than Suffocation worship as I have read some reviews suggest. Serenadium lacks the outright chaos of a Suffocation record and as a result has the better level of clarity around the riffs which do at times possess underlying promise of Swedish crunch, albeit never quite getting there. What does draw valid comparison with the New York masters of brutality is the technical aptitude of the artists performing as Iniquity.
This record barely puts a foot wrong in my opinion. Unafraid to vary the pace and the levels of brutality on display, Iniquity tread an exciting path, one which does make me wonder why this record is not spoken about more often. I guess that 1996 was simply too late for this record, with most of the established artists either off experimenting with their traditional death metal sound or just giving up due to the oversaturation in the sub-genre by this point. The fact is though; you will struggle find a better record than this from the mid to late nineties. It is so rhythmical and choppy at times that you cannot help but be totally enamoured with both the process and the outcome here. I have been sat here each time I played this record with a big shit-eating grin on my face, whilst struggling to type as I am headbanging along.
It is like listening to a more adept Cannibal Corpse at times, but I could honestly sit here and churn out comparators all day long. So just play it folks. For those of us around in the 90’s to enjoy the growth of death metal in realtime, take some time to discover a hidden gem. If you missed the action back in the day and are wondering what all the fuss was about at the time, put this on, and question answered, I am sure.
5/5