It’s a pretty well known fact that grindcore bands don’t like to hang around when it comes to song or album lengths. So it comes as absolutely no surprise that Czech upstarts Insistent blast through their nine track record Suspect at a breakneck speed, leaving the listener asking “is it over?” in the blink of an eye. What is surprising however is just how much the band manage to cram into such a short time frame. Besides the classic grindcore tropes of sharp rapid-fire blasting drums and ferocious vocals the quartet bring in elements of death metal and hardcore, but dress it up in grindcore clothing.
Lyrically the album tackles many subjects which are becoming more and more prevalent in alternative music as we as a collective see normal society fall apart around us. The band use metaphor to confront these dark issues of a gloomy society and the outcome is Jiří Vošahlík’s guttural voice coming in like a wrecking ball over precision blast beats. For those who still in this day and age think that grindcore is a bit of a joke genre, just listen to the track ‘Rust’, clocking in at just under a minute, Insistent somehow manage to showcase everything they are about in such a short space of time. Poignant lyrics, technical guitar riffs and insanely tight drumming, all tied up in a nice little package; it’s an incredibly impressive feat.
However, there’s more to this four-piece than just quick flashes of brilliance; when they push their tracks a bit longer they bring in a lot more elements to their sound. On ‘Abandoned Monuments’ the band allow the rhythm of the song to breath and it’s here where the other influences such as hardcore beatdowns are clear to hear. With the longest track on this record clocking in at three and a half minutes – title track ‘Suspect’ – Insistent get straight to the point with what they want to achieve, and it will certainly leave you coming back for more. With the band only being active for two years so far, Suspect comes across as a statement of intent from the band and it feels like this is just the start for them.
Suspect is out now and available to purchase here.
Words: Tim Birkbeck
