Earlier this year we witnessed some excellent albums from bands like Mammoth Grinder, Skeletal Remains, Gruesome, Tomb Mold, Mortuous and the list goes on. But how about a superstar death metal band that features some talented members from respected and renowned bands like Genocide Pact, Iron Age, Mammoth Grinder and Powertrip? Well, Profound Lore Records present to us yet another death metal release this year, and those of you who haven’t heard of Innumerable Forms should check out their debut album Punishment in Flesh. The album opens with a colossal death/doom entry to the realms of the dead, Punishment In Flesh which is the second track immediately captures the bleak atmosphere. As you can hear the mournful rhythm guitars being strummed with proposed standards of sludge death doom tunes. The drums are heavily pondered with beats of madness. The throaty deep growls of the vocals are altered between the low growls and they are quite menacing.

Innumerable Forms evokes some dreary moments throughout the album, as the band embodies the style of Finnish death metal, yet there are very slight elements of Swedish and American death metal style attached in their overall sound. Therefore you’ll come across many tracks which are flavoured with the old school sound and catchy riffs. One of the surprising sides of this album are the breakdowns the band relies on in their songs. And it is noteworthy to say that the band has the ability to shift into various forms, for example when they play doom they slow down and create the exact aura of doom metal.

Guitarists Jensen Ward and Chris Ulsh create a bleak and murky aura, where most of the tracks are saturated with sluggish tunes. Tracks like Petrified is propelled with death metal aggression, where the guitars are loaded with heavy and crude distorted riffs. Purity’s Demand follows in with slower approach having the guitars loaded with sludgy riffs. Punishment In Flesh develops very slowly and it includes 10 tracks that illustrates a sluggish and somber themes which are ornamented by the crude guitar performance.

Reality proceeds with agonizing heavy death metal aggression, the guitars are concentrated to emphasize on the dreadful atmosphere. The drums are professionally performed by Connor Donnegan who is an active member in Genocide Pact. The blend between death and doom is what gives the band full control  to stir the tracks as they please, for example Re-Contaminated is a straight forward death metal lasting for about five minutes, this is another slow tempo track laden with heavy raw guitars and double bass. The deep growls are so evil that they capture the entire atmosphere of the album, the riffs in other hand are powerful and overly abrasive.

Stress Starvation has a faster tempo from all the other tracks, and it’s maintained with extreme death metal sound. I can honestly say that there are only sparse melodies but the album is incredibly heavy and evokes the death metal brutality. Punishment in Flesh has some tiny similarities to the early albums of Paradise Lost, Asphyx and even to Winter the U.S. Death/Doom band. However Punishment in Flesh isn’t entirely a doom metal record, but its very well blended and draggy at the same time. If you like your death metal slow and crushing then you should check this album.

Release Date : August 17th, 2018
Label : Profound Lore Records
Track list :
1.Intruders
2.Punishment in Flesh
3.Petrified
4.Purity’s Demand
5.Reality
6.Re-Contaminated
7.Stress Starvation
8.Joyless
9.Firmament
10.Meaning