Undeath – More Insane (Review)

Undeath are a death metal band from the US and this is their third album.

Undeath have built a strong reputation very quickly. 2020’s Lesions of a Different Kind put them on the map, and then It’s Time…to Rise from the Grave saw them conquer and dominate a large portion of it. With that in mind, what do the 34 minutes of More Insane bring us?

More Insane is packed with more meaty death metal goodness from Undeath. Overall, the songs are shorter, more melodic, and more belligerent, making for an album that’s catcher than the norm. Undeath know how to pen a good tune.

If Undeath’s last album had a healthy Cannibal Corpse influence, More Insane trades in a part of this for more of a The Black Dahlia Murder vibe. This melodic death metal, (with a touch of thrash), approach doesn’t push Undeath as far along that road as Gatecreeper did with Dark Superstition, (for example), but it does take them a few steps further along. So, think The Black Dahlia Murder mixed with 200 Stab Wounds and Cannibal Corpse, and you’ll be on the right lines for More Insane.

Someone from the cleanup crew must have mopped up the abattoir too, as the production values are cleaner and more polished this time around, the performances tighter, and vocals with less deep and extreme. This allows the songs to breathe and fully take the spotlight. Even with this more professional veneer, this is still death metal, albeit of the more polished and accessible variety. More Insane boasts a monstrous collection of songs that will have you stomping around all over the place like a thing possessed.

Undeath know their grisly work with the intimacy of the butcher. The songs bleed gruesome riffs, ferocious grooves, and bloodthirsty aggression. They have an array of cruel hooks forced brutally through their mangled flesh, and have carved into barbaric forms designed to destroy in the live arena.

The songwriting is simple and effective. This is melodic death metal carnage, with classic structures and an ear for a good hook. It’s still brutal in places, but tempered by a molten melodic steel that’s incorporated more frequently on this record. This is embedded deeply in many of the riffs and leads, allowing the band to add emotive weight to their crushing core. Undeath still have an arsenal of riffs to assault the listener with though, make no mistake.

More Insane is destined to ignite mosh pits everywhere, no doubt. The songs are strong enough on their own though to stand up to repeated listens, and this is an album that’s easy and enjoyable to listen to over and over again. Undeath’s brutal heart has been balanced with the increased melodic side of their new sound. Each album has seen Undeath progress and develop in this manner, so I look forward to what their fourth record brings. Until then, cover yourself in the entrails of More Insane and get ready to rampage.