Band:	Inactive Messiah
Album:	Inactive Messiah
Style:	Industrial death metal
Release date:	2004
A review by:	Deadsoulman

01. T.C.D.D.
02. Give Me All
03. Mind Trap
04. Building Your God
05. Hate In Me
06. Blossom Of Paranoia
07. Tell Me One Reason
08. Shut The Fuck Up
09. Back To Life/Memories
10. Marble Smiling Face [Septic Flesh cover]

In Inactive Messiah's biography, you can read "powerful electro nu death metal". For once, let me disagree with what the label says. First, there is absolutely nothing of death metal in it, except the vocals. Second, even if the album has a nu metal production, even if some rhythms can sometimes remind of this particularly (un)popular style, in my holy opinion Inactive Messiah doesn't play nu metal. What we have here is the kind of cooly-groovy indus that bands like Prong usually play, some stuff you can't listen to without headbanging till you break your neck.

Of course, as usual with a young band like this, everything is not great. Some songs are particularly boring, some riffs are quite cliché, and sometimes the structures are a bit awkward and naive (like the laborious 'Mind Trap' for example). The production, as said previously, makes them sound like a nu metal band, while they deserve something heavier. This production is absolutely not powerful, whereas the music itself is quite violent, it's a bit of a pity. Another problem comes from the vocals, which are not always very efficient. The screams and growls are of good quality, but most of the rest is really average, if not below average.

Besides the very nice artwork, there are some good things on this album: about half of the songs are good or present a bit of interest. The first song 'T.C.D.D.' is the real highlight, with a catchy riff just as I like it, and a nice chorus with good vocal performance for once. This song reminds a bit of both 'Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck' of Prong and 'Numbered Days' of Killswitch Engage, two of the great authorities as far as groovy metal is concerned. 'Give Me All' sounds once more like Prong, with big bass and groovy drums, and again the chorus is good. 'Blossom Of Paranoia' is more thrash, with cool solos and killer riffs (one of the peculiarities of this album is the great number of high-quality solos in each song - unusual for a band that takes elements from nu metal). 'Tell Me One Reason' features Fotis V. of Septic Flesh on the vocals and is the only song with clean vocals. It's one the best songs and maybe the most original, since it doesn't sound at all like the rest. I think Inactive Messiah should pursue in this way, because this song shows a real identity. 'Shut The Fuck Up' after that is quite surprising. It is a nu metal song (but a great one with solos), and the chorus can be considered as an In Flames or Soilwork rip-off. It's everything but original, but somehow it's maybe my favourite song. In particular, I like the use of keyboards in this song. Talking about the keyboards, I can say they are discreet but efficient all over the album. The album is close by the Septic Flesh cover 'Marble Smiling Face' from the album A Fallen Temple. It's not really different from the original version, which I like a lot, but let's say it's good to hear a cover of the Greek gods.

To put things straight, if you're not firmly against any kind of modern sounds, if the words nu metal or indus don't make your flesh crawl, then I advise you to try this nice Greek band. Even if some songs are plain boring, Inactive Messiah is an interesting band, the kind of stuff you listen to when you just want to enjoy your time without thinking.

Highlights: T.C.D.D., Tell Me One Reason, Shut The Fuck Up