The Undivine – Delusional Noise (Inverse Records)

Monday, 25th March 2013
Rating: 7/10

Here’s a new one: A Finnish metal band sounding Brazilian. Metal never ceases to fail when it comes to geographical flip-flopping, eh? The Undivine are a Finnish five-piece, who have been around since 2005, and given that we made a Brazilian metal reference, their sound falls right in line with Chaos A.D.era Sepultura. On their second full-length Delusional Noise, the Finns try to give Cavalera jungle thrash some much-needed spice, but in doing so, come precariously close to sounding like one of the many third-rate Sepultura/Soulfly knock-offs until the album takes some surprising turns.

The nine songs that comprise Delusional Noise certainly don’t lack in the intensity department, with singer Henkka Harberg pasting his totally-90’s modern metal roar over a steady diet of sub-thrash riffs. There’s some groove to get down to, like on “Satellite Monarchy,” and even a melodic clean guitar break to be found on “Seduction,” so it’s not like The Undivine strapped on their Sepultura Starter Kit and went from there. The ragged and extreme metal-gussied up “Landmine Marathon” and “One Step to Parabellum” help break up the flow even more, especially the latter, which unfolds into a stomping groove section that serves as the album’s high point.

Combination thrash/death like The Undivine might end up doing themselves more harm than good with their propensity to veer off the course, yet the Finns might be more cognizant of their shortcomings than we give them credit for.Delusional Noise is worth examining if one has a faint interest in hearing what happens when a Finnish metal band tries to sound un-Finnish.

www.theundivine.com

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

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