Gutter Instinct – The Insurrection (2015) Album Review

What can you do in 18 minutes? Depending on the day I can maybe run a mile, make dinner, and then get drunk. Other days I can pull off a stand-up comedy routine and not have it completely suck. Most days I would rather just listen to Gutter Instinct and have my insides torn to shreds from the visceral destructive power of their EP, The Insurrection.

Order Gutter Instinct’s The Insurrection here.

In the left corner we have Sweden, and in the right we have Death Metal. These two abominable forces charged with all their might at some fine young lads and out charged four songs focused on leveling everything in their path.

I am done with the hyperboles, but in all honesty this effort by this band is honest and not intended for people that enjoy soothing music. Yes, “Under the Scythe” starts off kind of melodic and normal, but the riffs only get heavier until the song closes. “War Command” has a very distinguished chug riff near the end that makes an otherwise pretty typical track without much flare memorable.

“The Invisible Hand” has little to offer besides tremolo guitar work spewing out notes with a fast pace and engrossed in a dark melody. The solo feels slightly psychotic because the loud trills mixed with notes spewing out from across the fretboard as fast as possible. “We Hate You” focuses more on doom metal-sounding chord progressions before unleashing a heavy beatdown with fantastic drum patterns backing the guitars.

The Verdict:

Gutter Instinct have released four songs with pure death metal influences. The 18 minutes is intense and offers plenty of grit and heaviness that should be found within a band of the genre. The one thing The Insurrection might suffer from is having plenty of riffs that sound the same (tremolo picking for the win), which may be a bit tiring to some.