Review Summary: Iniquitous kicks the life out of you.
Rottrevore is a death metal band from the United States that formed in 1989. With
Iniquitous they produced one of the filthiest old school death metal records of all time. The atmosphere is crushing and the amount of heaviness Rottrevore packed into one album is astounding.
Iniquitous is one of those albums that lets the listener know what they have gotten themselves into quickly. When the first filthy chord hits it is the first punch thrown in the beating you'll be getting for the next forty minutes. The production on the album is slightly above demo quality. Luckily this aspect adds to the overall sound of the record and blends with Rottrevore's style well.
The majority of the album is slow to mid paced. The band never bothers to speed up much which could be disappointing to some. The slowness contributes to the level of straight up crushing death metal this album delivers. The vocalists accompany the musical beatdown well, delivering grunts straight from the depths of hell. A very guttural style is used throughout the album and they tend to stick with that sound. The lyrics aren't your average death metal "stab stab" style either, most of the time they remain politically fueled.
"They utilize the system, the power of control
Got you all their mercy,
obey as you've been told
White collars doing justice?
Criticizing you
Tearing at your freedom,
There's nothing you can do"
Mark Mastro and Chris Weber focus on creating riffs that keep the listeners attention. The guitar duo doesn't have one dull moment throughout the entire album and can clearly handle their instruments with ease. The solos on the album are short and sweet, delivered with a certain speed and precision that makes them a standout element of the album. At times the solos seem a bit out of place but never enough to throw Rottrevore of their game. The bass is very audible throughout the entire record and helps give the album the filthy thick sound that it has. Chris Free articulately plucks away the entire record with his incredibly deep tone. There aren't really any amazing moments for bass playing on Iniquitous but the fact that Free is audible is a plus in itself.
Jason Graham pounds away at his kit at a moderate speed that meshes with the rest of the players excellently. He doesn't pick up the pace often, but when he does it sounds great. A good example of this would be on the track
"Disembodied", moments like these prove that Graham is very capable of pounding away at high paces like most other death metal drummers, the fact is that if moments like this filled the entire album this album wouldn't be nearly as brutal and crushing as it is. When all is said and done this album turns into headbanging heaven due to the great rhythm section and the sheer heaviness of each individual track.
Overall
Iniquitous could easily be referred to as a classic if it got the amount of respect and exposure it deserves. It doesn't get much heavier than this. The evil sound that Rottrevore unleashes can only be compared to the likes of
Autopsy and
Incantation. Unfortunately
Iniquitous has been banished into obscurity with many other death metal classics that will most likely never get the amount of listeners that they deserve. Highly recommended. 4.5 out of 5.
