Inanna - Void of Unending Depths (2022)^{Release ID: 37451}

Wow! Why have I not checked out this Chilean band before?! This album, which is the band's third, has jumped into my top slot for 2022 by quite some margin. I can't say that it does anything particularly new, but it's exactly what I want from my death metal. Inanna sound a lot like Immolation, but I can also hear Morbid Angel mixed with the progressive side of Death. Given those three bands are amongst my favourite bands in metal, there was a fair chance I was going to be into this. The production is fantastic, with a great drum sound and the perfect emphasis on both lead and rhythm guitars. I absolutely love the vocals too, which have that deep yet decipherable power that the likes of Dave Vincent perform so well. In the end though it's the wonderful song-crafting and atmosphere that make Void of Unending Depths so enjoyable. This is a dark death metal album that manages to combine brutality and intensity with melody and progressive flair. There's rarely a moment that isn't captivating, and given the length of the tracks, that takes immense dedication and talent. I'm sure every metal fan knows those moments when listening to an album that make them close their eyes and smile, and then pump their fist and want to roar. This album is full of those moments for me.

Members of The Horde simply must check this album out. Those members of The Infinite that don't mind the more extreme side of metal should also add it to their playlist. I wouldn't at all be surprised if this is my album of the year, and we're only two-thirds of the way through. A full 5 stars!

2022 RANKING (66 releases so far)

1. Inanna - Void of Unending Depths - 5 stars

2. Shape of Despair - Return to the Void - 5 stars

3. Scarcity - Aveilut - 4.5 stars

2022 DEATH RANKING (16 releases so far)

1. Inanna - Void of Unending Depths - 5 stars

2. Immolation - Acts of God - 4.5 stars

3. Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain - 4.5 stars

A Chilean progressive death metal album that is anything but uninspired. The band labels this album and the band in general as being a three part hybrid of the "70s prog-rock heroes" of lead guitarist Diego Ilabaca, early technical death metal giants like Death and Atheist, and the brutality of Suffocation, Gorguts and Morbid Angel. 

The first thing that strikes my interest is the compositions. For many years I have had issue with technical death metal acts having a number of different ideas or motifs that have been tied together by only the thinnest of hog ties, but Inanna have very little of that here. The albums slower moments such as "Evolutionary Inversion" and "Far Away in Other Spheres" are well balanced in how the incorporate technical abundance and having it so it compliments the section directly before it. This is made ever more impressive when it happens on "Mind Surgery". 

Death metal is not known for it soaring guitar melodies, but the leitmotifs that we do get out of the guitars also contribute to an albums cohesiveness. The brutality of the instrumentals are well established, but do not go by the wayside due to a lack of theme as so many other tech-death albums have been known to do in the past for me.

One thing Inanna did not take away from Pestilence or Atheist was their compact compositions. Every track extends pass six minutes with a couple surpassing ten and it can feel like some tracks drag on for far too long, especially those ten-plus minute ones. They can quickly diverge into meandering sessions while the band figures what the hell to do next. As well, the album does not end the best with "Cabo de Hornos". It tries to be more atmospheric and invoke ethereal nature, which over the death metal palette sounds cool, but forces the album to lose momentum. Also, Void of Unending Depths is yet another H.P. Lovecraft inspired wankfest, which does not help the closing tracks comparisons to Blut Aus Nord's album from earlier in the year, but also the album as a whole losing some creative points.

Overall, I think Inanna's newest record is a very solid one. As someone who has been overly harsh towards technical death metal in the past, Void of Unending Depths is a very well executed display of how melody can be implemented in a genre known for overvaluing brutality. But loses points for a lack of focus, and a tired concept.

Best Songs: Evolutionary Inversion, Far Away in Other Spheres, Mind Surgery

My brother Ben can always be relied upon for quality feature releases & this brand new third album from Chilean death metallers Inanna is no exception as the band clearly possess a strong pedigree in all forms of deathly delights. “Void of Unending Depths” sees them tackling a number of different extreme metal subgenres & proving themselves to be proficient in all of them in the process. It’s quite a lengthy record for this style of music at nearly an hour in duration & I feel that it does overstay its welcome a touch but you can’t deny the quality that’s on offer.

The album begins in a very different way to what it finishes & opens with the strongest track on the tracklisting in dissonant death metal monster “Evolutionary Inversion” before “Among Subaqueous Spectres” sees them dipping their feet into more of a death/thrash sound which reminds me of US death metallers Serpens Aeon’s thrashier moments. The dissonant take on the classic death metal sound returns for “Far Away In Other Spheres” before the record starts to take a turn into increasingly more progressive territory for the remaining four tracks, the B side taking very much a progressive death metal direction in its entirety. I have to admit that the thrashier drumming doesn’t appeal to me as much as the darker death metal stuff & I think Inanna are probably at their best when they get their dissonant pants on.

The production job is very well suited to this style of music & does a good job at highlighting the dark atmosphere while the performances of the four instrumentalists are all high class. I particularly enjoy the use of blast beats but the highlights of the album tend to come through the sporadic incorporation of ethereal lead guitar melodies that remind me very much of Paradise Lost. It’s easy to pick up the influence of classic death metal bands like Immolation & Morbid Angel in the first half of the album while the commitment to progressive song structures & stylistic diversity is similar to that taken by South American counterparts The Chasm. Interestingly, I find the atmospheric interludes included in a few of the tracks to be inspired by Iron Maiden as much as anyone else (particularly the eerie mid-section of their classic “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”) but the last few tracks see the instrumentalists casting their creative inhibitions aside & tackling some highly technical riff structures. Front man Max Neira is an absolute beast with his super-deep yet still easily decipherable death growls providing another highlight for Inanna but unfortunately I find the higher pitched screams to sound a little immature in comparison.

“Void of Unending Depths” is a splendid example of the modern death metal sound & is very hard to fault. If anything, I’d suggest that Inanna may just be lacking a bit of focus as the record jumps around quite a bit & I tend to think that perhaps their next album might be the true culmination of their creative development once they firm up exactly what it is they’re trying to achieve. Regardless, there aren’t a lot of releases that can match Inanna for death metal integrity these days & I doubt there will be too many extreme metal fans out there that can’t get onboard with it.

For fans of The Chasm, Serpens Aeon & Morbid Angel.