“Actions speak as loud as words!” is the roared hook in ‘Leech’, a combustible, fist-swinging mid-album anthem, as Incite know that, five albums in, there is no resting on their laurels. One of a host of bands caught in a mosh, struggling and jostling for position to tip them from the mid-tier; definitely proficient but without that mainstream or commercial weight to establish them as true heavyweights in their field. A respected band with a decent catalogue under their belts, the intent is that Built To Destroy (minus HEAD) will not only build on the foundations their decent work to date has laid down but allow them to create something lasting to stand out on the horizon.
You never get a second chance to make a good fifth impression, and with that in mind, it’s a shame that the title track is first up. Along with a couple of others, such as ‘Confronting Darkness’ which waddles in midway through, our front-of-house may be resplendent with requisite menace and bluster, but it is one of those more generic moments Incite can’t help but fall back into, carrying the flabbiness of middle-aged gut attached to a human whose metabolism hasn’t continued at the same pace as it’s hosts drinking.
So, we’ve identified the albums’ flaw early, but even then, we still have clear evidence of a couple of staples of what Incite are damn good at… identifiable hooks that distinguish the tracks and do stick in the mind… on each song, at least one for the guitar with a lurching, downslider of a riff, and that rare talent of pitching an earworm even within heavy vocal, a knack Richie Cavalera has always seemed to possess.
Throughout Incite come across like a malevolent Bad Wolves, all rolling, de-tuned mid-paced djent-flecked guitars, yet remembering always the important matter that others forget. While Jimmy Carr always preaches “don’t neglect the balls”, even at their heaviest and most malign, Dru Rome never neglects the hook. At times the quartet come across like a Groove Metal Arch Enemy (‘Cessation’, in particular), while at others he spices proceedings up by adding some unhinged worshipping at the altar of madness and some sick Morbid Angel angular riffing.
Truth be told, Incite are at their best when they marry to two, such as ‘Human Cancer’, a pleasant ditty (I lie) that also sets a guesting Kirk Weinstein’s bellow free. A similar Death Metal proficiency highlights the finger-flailing riffage of ‘Poisoned By Power’ which features one of Chris Barnes best vocals for what feels like decades. All of this leaves us with another good album from another good band. They’re not forcing themselves out of and above the swirling melee, but they’re more than holding their own against the torrent of competition.
6 / 10
STEVE TOVEY