UMUR "No State Of Grace" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Polish extreme metal act Iperyt. The album was released through Iperyt Productions in February 2011. It´s the successor to "Totalitarian Love Pulse" from 2006, so there are quite a few years between the two albums. Despite the relatively many years between the debut and sophomore album release the lineup who recorded the debut album remains the same on "No State Of Grace".

Stylistically the material on "No State Of Grace" continue the ultra aggressive industrial tinged black/death metal style of "Totalitarian Love Pulse (2006)". The vocals are raw, angry, and snarling, the programmed drums provide the music with an electronic power and energetic speed boost, that a human drummer wouldn´t have been able to (and add a bleak industrial element to the music), and the guitars and bass play sharp and brutal riffs. "No State Of Grace" is a relentlessly brutal and aggressive release from the opening notes of the title track to the closing notes of "In Morbid Rapture". At no point during the playing time do the band let up, and it is the type of album that will leave you breathless and exhausted. Left bleeding in the gutter...

A little more variation between tracks could have made the album a bit more interesting in the long run, but as it is, it´s still a good quality release, featuring a powerful sound production, strong instrumental/vocal performances, and for the most part well written compositions. Some listeners may wrinkle their nose at programmed drums, but to my ears they work perfectly here, because they are purposedly chosen to be programmed, and not just because the band weren´t able to hire a human drummer. The programmed drums play a major part in defining Iperyt´s sound. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Vehemency Industrial black metal can be done magnificently, just think of some The Axis of Perdition and Blut Aus Nord releases, but most often it seems to fall into ultimate mediocrity. Iperyt’s second full-length No State of Grace is an inconveniently clear case of the latter category, presenting eleven tracks of ultra fast and rather bland industrial black / death metal.

The main glitch here is how the band tries to be extreme and shocking. This comes evident already via reading the songtitles like ”Scars Are Sexy” and, delving into the music, the aspect of pretentiousness comes apparent in e.g. the exaggerated drum machine speeds. Combine the 3000 bpm audio software beats to slower and remote riffs and ”let’s fuck the life from behind” (straight quote) lyrics, and I’m quite embarassed overall.

I hate to go all the way ranting an album like this, but the truth is that there’s little content on No State of Grace that would deserve the attention of even industrial metal fans. The first track, self-titled one, culminates to some nice, almost epic melodies, but that’s pretty much all I can get out of No State of Grace. Unless the bands starts to focus more on the actual content instead of the mere extreme and ’oh so violent’ attitude it has, I hold no further interest in the band. Technically, there’s no limitations for potential as the band does keep the songs together well enough, but there’s just got to be something more than that’s just trying to horrify the listener - and then even fail at it!