The Inerrancy of Profanation

Being the simultaneous vinyl and death metal enthusiast I am, I was quite pleased to find a very slightly used copy of this LP reissue for a mere 10 USD. Had the price been even a couple bucks higher, I might not have made the purchase, but listening to the record right now, I'm pretty glad I did. It's not something I'll pull off the shelf every day, or every week for that matter, but my initial positive impression has held up through a good 10-12 spins over a number of months.

Although the following disclaimer probably isn't even necessary, I might mention that there isn't a great much here that will appeal to those outside the core fanbase for this style - this being, of course, post-Suffocation USDM. Nor is 'The Inerrancy of Profanation' likely to be much fun for the stereotypical backwards-hat-wearing slam DM fan. There are slower breakdown sections, for sure, but they mostly serve as contrast to the high-speed, frequently off-time (i.e. non-4/4) blasting. On the other hand, for a guy like me who was weaned on shit like classic Suffo and early Nile ('Pierced From Within' being, no lie, the first death metal CD I ever bought) Insidious Decrepancy's fairly complex brand of brutal death pleases me far more than the vast majority of dumbed-down Devourment wannabes. Even if 'Inerrancy' as a whole is a bit too monotonous an experience to approach true "classic" status, it nevertheless stands out from most of the pack just as it surely did when released 10 years ago. If you wish, you can call Sean Whitaker pretentious (starting with the rather unwieldy name), you can accuse him of bad taste (the gore-spattered reissue cover, the lyrics), and you can (somewhat understandably) approach this one-man-and-a-drum-computer project with a skeptical ear - but in the end, it's hard to deny that the dude churns out some perfectly solid, high-quality DM.

Now here comes the part where I (*sigh*) attempt to describe the music in detail. Sorry, guys, but this section's going to be a bit short. Though all 8 tracks offer the same platter of intricate, alternately bludgeoning and scalpel-like riffs, and not one sticks out as an obvious weak point, that's kind of exactly the problem for a would-be reviewer. The rather uniform song lengths (the first 3 on Side A are all between 3:01 and 3:14) don't help much either. The blast beats are as precise as you'd expect, without sounding too obviously mechanical, and the breakdowns hit hard while often sounding quite a bit like a real drummer. All in all, this LP hardly screams "one-man bedroom project," and in a sea of barely (or not even) competent metal solo artists, that's no backhanded compliment.

Certainly this isn't 'Effigy of the Forgotten,' or even 'Molesting the Decapitated,' and I wouldn't call it a must-buy for anyone who isn't already somewhat well versed in post-2000 American death metal, but if you like that sort of thing, you could do a hell of a lot worse. Especially if, like me, you get the chance to hear it in sweet, sweet analog.

I mentioned already that I am not a fan of drum machines and Mortician. Having said that, I meant to express my discontent with bands that use them, but don't even try to make them sound at least like some real drums, but more like sterile and blunt hammering. It's really sad to hear such sounds, and it actually beats my head and wounds my heart, I get really pissed. But Insidious Decrepancy at least try to make their drums sound a bit like they were played by a human being, but I suppose the reason for using a drum machine is that a human being/crazy drummer wouldn't be able to play all the songs these guys create, so it seems a better solution to just hit some strokes in the programming and voila, there it is, The Inerrancy Of Profanation, a release of pure hate, derangement and chaos.

ID have a strabge love to create pretty crazy songs with the overused Brutal Death Metal song arragements,and the devotion to invent pretty bizarre song titles, like "Surreptitious Misanthropy Voraciously Consuming Rationality Thus Invoking Dormant Sociopathic Desirest" or "Ordainment Of Iniquity Luridly Asphyxiating Righteousne" (you must admit this is even more intricating than Carcass' Necroticism titles), that won't just break your tongue, but also your mind, as you will try to find out what it means. And, as an expert in medical pathology and practice, I can tell you it's just weird nonsense, made up to give people who don't have better things to do a reason not to pull the trigger.

This release is in no way less good and killing than the previous, except for the attempt to sound even more brutal and fukked up. Well, they succeed in this aim, and leave no bone unbroken. The first songs starts easy, with some double bass lines, and then gets easily more into the rest, building and then destroying the structure. On this first song they don't mutilate too much, but enough to get the "Master-Kill" award. "Surreptitious Misanthropy Voraciously Consuming Rationality Thus Invoking Dormant Sociopathic Desirest" starts like a Deeds of Flesh song - straight forward brutal massacre and mutialtion, changes to mid-tempo, and then again only mutilation and chaos and disorder. The other songs have almost the same structure and concept as the first, so it's needless to say it's just battering an bashing the life out of the listenr.

ID sound a bit, or let's be plain, they sound almost like Deeds Of Flesh, but really almost like DOF. That's nothing bad, actually a fact that attracts most listenrs of ID, and givesthem a nice following, although most bands that have only two steady members and a computer represent a whole Underground scene (yeah, only two men can be an underground scen, that's what has become of Death Metal; 10, or 15 years ago there was an army of DM heads, and now it has come to this - people listening to Power Metal and Korn and Slipknot, ehm, excuse me, Shitrot. But you can see ID as a band that tries to do it brutal, even without Mike Hamilton or Derek Roddy. And if you like Deeds Of Flesh, you will sure like ID, as they have more of the mid-tempo parts and not only blast-till-your-arms-go-numb parts. You can enjoy it and still be brutal as fuck!

No trends, no mosh, no melody, no jokes, no happiness, hell, no members even. Insidious Decrepancy can be much more well defined by what it is not rather than what it is. The product of the sick mind of one man, Shawn Whitaker (also well known for Viral Load among other projects), Insidious Decrepancy is pure, unrelenting brutal death metal. I was eager to review this disc, being a big fan of the debut, 'Decadent Orgy Of Atrocious Suffering', a monolithic, surprisingly technical slab of savage DM. So, has Whitaker done it again?

Yes, he has. While the technicality of the first release has been significantly toned down, the level of punishment as increased dramatically. 'The Inerrancy Of Profanation' is traditional brutal death metal, without breakdowns, grooves, or any other techniques that would appeal to scene kids. However, it is packed to the brim with memorable riffs, fantastic drum programming, and guttural vocals. Atmospherically the project has improved as well, with some surprisingly menacing tracks contained on this album.

'Befouling The Adoration Of Christ' opens the disc, fading in to a churning mid-paced section that nicely showcases Whitaker's excellent drum programming. In no way can one say that a drum machine is hampering the band in this case; Whitaker makes full use of the machine's capabilities with complicated yet engaging rhythms, not to mention speeds that most humans would have difficulty pulling off. We can also see that Whitaker's guitarwork, while less technical than the previous release, is still more than capable. His timing is impeccable as always, and he exhibits some stunning right-hand work on the blasting sections. Riff construction has improved in turn, with a (dare I say) catchy tremolo section forming the peak of the song.

Whitaker's vocals are also of note. While his typical high/low styles are similar to the previous release, his use of rhythm is very engaging, often being related to very subtle parts of the music (Surreptitious Misanthropy Voraciously Consuming Rationality Thus Invoking Dormant Sociopathic Desires), yet still forming a logical counterpoint. Another worthwhile technique of his is the stretching of sparse vocals over long sections of music; when paired with the proper atmosphere (Inebriated By The Blood Of Divine Suffering Through Secular Dissection) it works perfectly.

Perhaps the one major flaw of the album is differentiating between the songs. Only a couple (Befouling The Adoration Of Christ and the title track) are really able to stand out in my mind. With the music only operating on two speeds (those being mid-paced and ridiculously fast), there's not a lot to really grab you. Also, the disc is a tad on the short side, clocking in at just under a half hour, but given the similarity between tracks one likely doesn't want more than that.

Whitaker has crafted a very fine piece of brutal death metal with 'The Inerrancy Of Profanation'. While it may be a niche piece, 'tis a niche that is almost perfectly filled by this release. If you like barbaric, misanthropic death metal, there's no reason not to purchase this album.

(Originally written for www.vampire-magazine.com)

Shawn Whitaker returns after 3 years of silence with the new Insidious Decrepancy album "Inerrancy Of Profanation". The high points of this album are the production and the album cover along with the pure brutality of the music. The production is one of the best I think i've ever heard as it is thick,clear and very loud. The low point of the album is the fact that all the songs sound almost identical and there are some of the same riffs and chops that were on the first release. Shawns vocals are deffinately more guttural then on the first release but there are no variety of vocals as on the first no high shrieks just low grunting which tends to get monotonous after a while. The subject matter has changed as most of the songs deal with anti-religion ideals instead of just murder and gore although a few songs are about murder and gore. Once again the drum machine is used which almost gives the album an Industrial feel and the drums are very good sounding and go along with the music very well. Another difference from the first album is the abundance of breakdowns in ever song which I like and the breakdowns are of the Brutal Texas style as expected. Shawn only wrote lyrics on one song,most of which were written by some guy named William Hutchings. The artwork was done by Jon Zig as expected which depicts jesus being sodomized by an inverted cross with a bloody looking spider web pentagram draped behind him. Mike Majewski of Devourment also did some artwork on the inside of the cd case,a demon coming out of a catholic priest holding a crucifix. The highlights of the album would have to be the self titled song and the last song "Unrelenting Agony Bestowed upon the Holy Disease Ridden Minds of the Ignorant". The title song has a breakdown about 1:51 minutes into the song that will make you want to commit murder. Most of the songs are filled with fast blasting and fast,technical single note chops with breakdowns in each song. This is definately an album that all fans of brutal Death Metal will enjoy although I dont think it is as diverse as the first release.