Review Summary: A death metal album that is more than it seems.
I got this album under the impression it was death/doom, so I was expecting something similar to Swallow the Sun, Novembers Doom, that sort of sound. After putting on the album, I was very disappointed with the first song. It was not what I thought it would be, and it was actually quite poor. However, my disappointment slowly dissolved as I continued on through the album. Apokryphos are a death metal band hailing from good old Russia, and on Insight they play a hybrid sort of death metal, with both doom and melodic death influences. Still, this only represents half of the album, the other half is some average death metal.
The album begins with the track ‘Dr. Pain’, which is straight death metal, reminiscent of early Deicide, though not as technical. This is the poorest song on the album, and really does not do well as an introduction. Any other song put in pole position would have made this album much better, but sadly we are stuck with a terrible diagnosis of ‘Dr. Pain’. After hearing this track, I was expecting the rest of the album to be poor death metal, but was surprised when ‘Mons Parturibat’ began with a soft acoustic medley, sounding similar to traditional Russian or Eastern European music. The song then breaks into the same melody, but gloriously amplified. What was seemingly a crappy death metal album turned out to be something with a little more depth than first thought.
Throughout the album, Apokryphos use a variety of techniques to keep the album as diverse as possible. There are obviously some awesome death metal riffs, there are great keyboard melodies, strategically placed synth, melodic death moments, and a very cheesy death metal breakdown.
After the second track, we’re thrown into another straightforward death metal song (Damnation), though of a much higher standard than the much poorer opening track. This song also has one of the worst lyrical breakdowns I have ever heard, on par with the one in the song ‘Romance is Dead’ on Parkway Drive’s Killing with a Smile. The vocalist says ‘Come on mother***ers’ twice while the music builds up, then once in his harsh vocals before the twin riffs kick in and make an extremely mosh-worthy song. It even sounds like he’s growling ‘jump’ along with the music after the breakdown. Asides from this terribly cliché moment, the song is a great one to head bang to.
Excluding the first, third, and sixth tracks, which are more or less pure death metal, each song is a blend of different styles and genres (as mentioned before). There is a great deal of melody, which is accented further with the use of keyboards, synth and acoustic/clean passages. There are several amazing sections where the band creates an atmosphere that really sucks you in. Seeing as Insight is categorically death metal, this is quite an achievement. One particular mention is the haunting keyboards on the track Apokryphos-Cult. After a few listens of the album, a similarity with the likes of Swallow the Sun was definitely apparent. In a completely genre-breaking move however, Apokryphos finishes off the album with an instrumental 10 minute masterpiece which is basically a composition displaying the various styles that have been used through-out the album. It is the highlight of the album, even though it is an instrumental.
The vocals are pretty standard death metal grunts, and there is not a great deal of variation in them. I didn’t think they were necessarily bad, but I wouldn’t recommend this album purely on the strength of its vocals. This is probably another reason why I like the instrumental sections more than the vocalised sections. I mentioned before that the death metal songs sound similar to early Deicide, and I’ll say the same for the vocals. The closest comparison to Apokryphos’s vocalist I can think of is Benton on earlier Deicide albums.
I’m aware that Apokryphos is a little-known band and also that they probably don’t have the funds for an album with good production, but it doesn’t stop me not liking the production on Insight. For an album released in 2006, the production is quite poor. It’s not unlistenable, but could be a lot better. The one good thing is that the guitars do not drown out the rhythm section, both the drums and bass are as audible as the guitars. The guitar work on Insight is not very technical, asides from a few of the solos, but I like the fact that Apokryphos know what they can do and that they’ve done it. Another point I’ll mention is that the bass sounds good, and in all the songs Apokryphos make great use of their bassist.
To be very honest, I think it’d be in Apokryphos’s best interest to abandon the pure death metal songs and simply focus more on the blend of death, melody and doom. The three death metal songs on here (Dr. Pain, Damnation, Ti Bezumen) are the poorer songs on the album, while the rest of the more melodic songs are much better. Death metal elitists would scoff at the death metal on here, as it is quite poor. Nonetheless, I liked the album and will keep an eye out for how this band does in the future.
Pros:
- Some nice melancholic melodies
- A great 10 minute instrumental
- Some nice solos
Cons:
- 3 poor death metal tracks
- Production is not the best
- Far too short (40 minutes), especially when you skip the 3 poorer tracks
Recommended Songs:
Insight
Apokryphos-Cult
