Within the bounds of present day melodic metal, insipid is a word that comes to mind. Take that as you may, though also understand that bands such as InnerFire are still trying to break those molds. Hailing from Belgium, this melodic death metal band (whom actually plays death metal) presents an invigoration to the scene. They present not fancy intros, but bombastic and emotive riffage, only trying to impress you with their raw, enveloping composition skills. No, they are not innovative, but they sure as hell know how to write original songs as an album rather than a bunch of cool tracks.
The main sound on Of Legends And Allegiance is epic, furiously brooding, and surprisingly catchy. A character shared between the first two songs brings to mind the Classical era where the band is insistent on presenting a piece of music and continuously building upon them while intertwining various moods and tempos. Each instrument is pulsating while retaining their own qualities, something especially prevalent in the guitar solos and keyboard interludes. Even a bit of a jazz influence seeps through on Circles Of Sadness, a rather repetitive track in theory, but without losing anything interesting. They use older influences rather than contemporary ones, but still incorporate their twist, giving a sort of “back to the future” sound, most noticeable on The Blast Of Decadence, a definite highlight.
The faults you can find are typical, however. There are moments in songs like Samonios and Sordid where the band seems to fall back on predictable melodic metal rhythms and riff structures, with the low vocal style rarely changing its mantra. The band also implements keys in every inch of the record, and at times it serves no purpose to the song but is simply just there. Also, there are only two settings used: synth and piano, which can become a bit redundant at times.
Though, do not lose faith in the band, it’s easy to see in the music that the band is putting their hearts into their material. The fallbacks in the compositions could easily be due to the exceptionally numerous line-up changes the band underwent, and even if not, the prowess of the record does not match infantile stage of the band, making InnerFire someone to watch out for in the future, as they are without doubt miles ahead of their contemporaries and, given time, have the potential to become leaders in their scene.
