ELECTROCUTION - Inside the Unreal (Review)

Written by: Blackie Skulless

Amongst the massive wave of heavily influential death metal acts of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s came some that held just as much merit but got far less attention over the years. Electrocution is one of these bands. Based out of Italy, they only dropped one record in 1993 titled Inside The Unreal (before more recently reforming), along with several demos that can also be found on disc two of the recent reissue of this beast. Riding heavily on the technical rails, as well as hitting some jazz fusion, picture something along the lines of Unquestionable Presence meets Beneath The Remains.

Abundant standout features are going to creep in more and more as you give this repeat listens. Ascending riff repetition is used wonderfully, especially with how it mixes in so smoothly beside the more traditional death metal rhythm patterns. For the most part, the vocals avoid taking the forefront, glazing as a nice topping from the back seat to give the guitars the most focus. Some may view that as a disadvantage, but I personally like it, especially since it is still a noticeable factor.

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Technical death perfection is found in “Rising Of Infection,” potentially one of my favorite songs of this style, ever. Not only are the rhythms bouncy with jarring riff/drum combos, but the shifting in sound and direction is pulled off smooth as butter. The bass/lead section dropping after an immediate break is next level. Others hone in on the speed factors, queuing in that Brazilian death/thrash influence. “Back To The Leprosy Death” tackles this wonderfully, while also working in advanced drumming and leads. Acoustic chunks and cleaner parts can be found to cool off the otherwise hot surface, shown best in “Ghost Of Past.” It’s toned-down, calming midsection is wonderful.

Really, Inside The Unreal should appeal to anybody who digs any kind of early technical death metal that isn’t stupidly noodly, and isn’t so produced it feels inorganic. The execution of everything they go for is sharp. The bonus disc on the recent reissue is loads of fun, and certain areas of the demos capitalize even more on the aforementioned jazz-fusion. Anyone who digs this style but hasn’t dug this one up yet needs to do so as soon as possible.

Electrocution - Inside The Unreal was originally released in 1993, and was re-released by Goregorecords for its 20th anniversary

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