Album Reviews : Ignominious Incarceration – Of Winter Born

For a band that has only existed since 2006, Ignominious Incarceration have mashed together one extremely professional sounding debut album. The songs are well structured, each member is technically proficient and the production is nothing to complain about, but despite all of that, I will never listen to it again. At the end of the day, this is simply another uninspired extreme metal album to forget about.

Recycling bits and pieces from various well known death metal bands, Ignominious Incarceration have managed to churn out ten songs of the stock standard blend of tech-death, melodic death, and the occasional smidgen of deathcore that has flooded the scene recently. While they certainly aren’t the bottom of the barrel, nowhere near it in fact, even the cream of this generic crop can be a task to listen to. Several listens later and not a single hook has caught my ear, not a single vocal melody has had me singing along in my head, and I’m yet to fail at air drumming. It doesn’t even have the catchiness factor for it to just be a ‘dumb, fun listen’. It’s just bland. There’s not really even anything for me to write about. Just imagine the combination I mentioned previously and that’s what it is.

Diehard fans of current death metal may find something to like about this album. The fact that these guys have already toured with Bring Me The Horizon and Cryptopsy suggests there must be something that people find appealing here. I just can’t see it.

At the end of the day, would I recommend people buy this? No. Would I recommend people give them a shot? No. I’d recommend people just ignore the album completely and go find something that could be interesting to listen to. 4/10

Band: Ignominious Incarceration
Album: Of Winter Born
Year: 2009
Genre: Melodic/Technical Death Metal
Label: Earache Records
Origin: United Kingdom
myspace.com/ignominiousincarceration

Track listing:
1. Avarice
2. Deeds of Days Long Gone
3. Elegance in Aggression
4. The Saviour
5. Of Winter Born
6. Solitude
7. Dynasty Damnation
8. Tide of Pestilence
9. In the Face of Absolution
10. Elusion of Mortality