Review by Carl on July 7, 2022.

Does that artwork remind you of Nocturnus's "Thresholds" as well? It certainly does remind me of it. Seeing this artwork actually gives a pretty good idea of what to expect of Rude's most recent offering, presenting the listener with a cool dose of competent old school death metal with a technical edge to it.

Rude has never been a band that relied on velocity very much, and on this release faster parts only make some occasional appearances, leaving more room for the cool, at times even jazzy riffing and excellent musicianship. Their style reminds me of albums like "Human" by Death and the first two albums of Gorguts and Atheist. Another reference here is "Testimony of the Ancients" by Pestilence, not only because of the music, but the vocals of Yusef Wallace sure sound familiar, keeping the middle between Patrick Mameli and Martin Van Drunen. The music certainly has a technical edge to it, but the band knows well enough how to keep things accessible, and not let the music deteriorate into tiresome wank. The compositions are well-played offerings of early 90's mid-tempo death metal, and I would like to make a special mention of the bass player. His performance is a great contribution to the music, as he reminds me of Steve DiGiorgio's work on the aforementioned "Human". Together with the above-par performance of both guitarists, this makes for an interesting and enjoyable dose of death metal with a technical edge.

There is some critique I have though, and that is that the percussion has to take somewhat of a backseat to the guitar and bass parts, something that does make the whole sound a bit clinical. Also I have to admit that perhaps a bit more uptempo parts wouldn't have hurt as well. I get easily bored by music that moves at a primarily mid-tempo pace, but because of the good compositions, excellent playing and the short duration of this EP, boredom is kept out of the door. Although I don't think 45 minutes of this would have kept me interested.

To conclude: if you were into their previous stuff, this should be right up your alley, and that goes for those into the bands and albums mentioned above as well. A good offering by a good band, nothing more, nothing less.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Alex on September 30, 2018.

Join this ritual, laced with obliterating drum speed, bloodthirsty vocals and restless mid-tempo buzzsaw riffing.

Imagine being a warlock, bound to an eternity of suffering for a crime committed against the heavens. Your executioners commence the torture of having you sealed in a Houdini looking mechanism under water. As your air supply diminishes, desperation grows, your pulses alert you by the second, and the struggle for survival begins. Once you see an opening towards your escape you reach out agonizingly in your pursuit of freedom. Your head bursts through the plasma separating life and death. You manage to free yourself using the ages of sorcery in your spiritual inventory. From then on, that first gasp of fresh air is the most blissful and virgin thing to your body and existence; it is like being reborn. Upon your near escape, and no time to spare, you proceed to gather the materials needed to summon the giant serpent.

With a very approachable production, Ziggurat blend dogmatic death growls with rich guitar melodies and sprinting drums. Mørk and Tohu combine forces to lay a heated hand of beating upon the buttocks of the beholder with "Summoning the Giant Serpent". "Blind Faith" then seizes the listener and takes him/her for an unforgettable ride on Ziggurats black magic broomstick to the serpent's domain. This is the song that glues each element of the spell together, it is the combobulation of the band's musical and occult expertise.

The walloping drumming prompts unwarranted changes in the heart rate; the race to the climax is marked by heavy breathing as you approach the ceremony being "Death Rites Transcendence". This melodic monstrosity grooves you into the presence of "laced mutton" with whom you dance with, break bread, sip wine and lay. Quite a journey it is whilst being only a 20-minute nefarious joyride of an EP. Truly a work of witchcraft Ritual Miasma is; like a forbidden glance into a live West Indian Obea ceremony, a Qabalah coven of the unclean or an evil invocation. 

What lies ahead in the depths is yet to be unveiled. However; this short memorable liturgy will suffice your appetite until the next series of ruthlessness slithers from the bed of the chasm.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10

Review by Tomek on December 12, 2013.

After doing a little bit of research I found out that Slovenia has an array of metal bands in almost every genre. For some reason I’m not familiar with any of them. Not a problem really, but I’m thinking about adding another point to my New Year Resolution List nonetheless. I think the only other band that I know from there at this point is Laibach (anybody remembers Morbid Angel remixes done by them), but musically they are a different universe. Laibach has been on my all time fav list for a long time now, so let’s see how these boys will do.

Inmate is a melodic death metal group and Free At Last is their debut album. Around fifty minutes for a debut may seem like a lot, but no worries here. Whole album is quite entertaining with lots of melody delivered by vocals, guitars, rhythm section or by some electronic samples. Sound on the album is very appealing and modern, with plenty of punch. It may not be the most original but I believe it’s something that will be adjusted and bettered in the future. Recording, mix, production and mastering deserve an honorable mention here because they are all done with highest quality. All aspects were taken care of so nothing is missed or put in the back. Songs on the album are interestingly diverse so we have some that are fast and heavy, some slow and crushing, some instrumental or mix of all those in one, but all of it very melodic so album is getting good points there but there is something that I believe brings the whole experience down few notches too many.

It’s repetitiveness. It almost seems that Inmate wrote a formula for themselves and they try to stick to it no matter what. Songs start with a good riff with good melody then rhythm section comes in, then verse and then we have chorus, verse and chorus and then repeat chorus few times too many. What happens musically I cannot complain because its good melodic death metal with plenty of compassionate guitar work and decent lyrics, but singing of the same chorus drives me crazy. It got to the point of me skipping second halves of the song because of that. I think that even best played melody and best written lyrics and chorus will get old quick if repeated too many times. It may seem like not much, but I’ve listened to the album many times and at this point I don’t even want to go back to it. Not for awhile at least.

Inmate’s Free At Last is a good debut and I feel that those guys will be on top of many charts in the future. I for one will be checking on them from time to time, because even though I complain a little - they did made me sing or shout with them and I was whistling some of the melodies, and that to me is a sign of good songwriting. They are very talented but they need to rework the formula a little bit and if they do, who knows? the whole world may be singing, shouting or whistling with them.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 9
Originality: 7
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.4 out of 10