Time Signature Resurrection of the groove devil...

Genre: modern groove thrash metal

"Escapeinout" - now that is perhaps a bit of a curious name, but behind the name of this Italian metal band is a reference to the continual aimless escape from a reality of chaos, panic and man-made disasters. So, what kind of music are we dealing with here? Well, the cover art, depicting a person with a gas mask of some cybernetic design literally attached to her face might suggest industrial metal and a theme of the fusion of man and machine. But, perhaps surprising, Escapeinout deliver an onslaught of modern thrash metal.

Focusing on riffs, the tunes on the album are for the most part crushing, and groove is an integral part of the style on the album, too. While not exactly a Pantera rip-off, Escapeinout however appear to have been quite inspired by the legendary American band, and especially the Strazzio's vocals are quite similar to Phil Anselmo's at times. going beyond the confines of 90s groove metal, there is also a certain death-thrash quality (with touches of metalcore) to some of Escapeinout's compositions on this album, both in the shape of some types of riffage and in Strazzio's affinity for also using various types of extreme metal vocal techniques.

The production is very well-defined and observes the production conventions, if you wish, of modern thrash metal quite well. And, I must say, this type of polished production does suit riff-and-groove-driven metal music very well. So, while the sound might be polished, and perhaps sterile to some, I think it serves the music very well - and Escapeinout also do manage to generate a dark and almost brutal feel to their sound at the end of the day.

Groove metal appears to be making its way back into the limelight, and "Born in a Sick World" is definitely a fine addition to the corpus of groove metal albums released since the 90s. Fans of the likes of Machine Head, Pantera and Primates-era Grope should find "Born in a Sick World" a worthwhile listen.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)