:: Destinity - The Inside

Destinity

While ‘The Inside’ is the first offering from Destinity on German label Lifeforce Records, this French act have been around for quite some time. With no less than five previous full-length releases and a DVD (2007‘s '666 Thrashened Extreme Music: 1996 - 2006’) to their name, Destinity are hardly newcomers to the scene. But what has hindered the band in the past is their constant shift in styles throughout their existence. Starting out as a black metal act, the band slowly evolved into a symphonic black/death metal act, before settling on their current direction, which is essentially melodic death metal. Regardless of their changes, Destinity have always been one of the more interesting group‘s from the French underground, and 'The Inside’ is again another fine effort from them. ‘The Inside’ is very much a continuation of the sound that was featured on 2005‘s 'Synthetic Existence’, but with a greater emphasis on the melodic aspect of their compositions, with the traditional death elements used sparingly throughout the album. ‘My Senseless Theory’ is a good example of where Destinity‘s sound lies these days, with the tight production, clinical musicianship and technical precision all giving the song and band a distinctly Swedish feel. On the brutality side of things, the band show off a slight Kataklysm influence, while the huge choruses could easily have come from Peter Tägtgren's Pain and Hypocrisy projects. The thrashier side of the band is self evident in the fast paced 'Murder Within’, ‘Still Remember’ and ‘Enemy Process’, while big thumping grooves are present in mid-paced ‘Ready To Leave’. But not all of the band‘s past has been completely removed, with a symphonic/keyboard edge being added for extra drama to tracks such as the fantastic 'Thing I Will Never Feel’, ‘A Thousand Falling Skies’ and the title track ‘The Inside’. Some may criticise Destinity's decision to abandon their death/black metal roots for a more melodic Swedish influence on their latest album, but when it's done this well, you can't help but enjoy the French act's latest release for what it is - a quality kick ass melodic death metal album.