UPON INFLICTION -

UPON INFLICTION - TO ESCAPE IS TO SUFFER - CRASH  
Upon Infliction’s To Escape Is To Suffer is the second genuine death metal album this month from Crash Music that smokes from beginning to end. The band is apparently the brainchild of one Gus Rios who is a collaborator of sorts with the Malevolent Creation characters. The band certainly has a whiff of the more famous Floridians in it - in contrast to label-mates Abysmal Dawn, which is less American sounding - but this quartet also mixes in elements better associated with Incantation and Suffocation. The riffs are heavy and grinding, the guitars neigh and screech, the drummer (former Kult Ov Azazel/Sickness man Rios) shows particular bad taste, which is perfect for death metal and the vocals are at least doubled up and treated with a fair dose of effects. The album also features a cover of Death’s song Mutilation. Whether it is the faster blasts or the crushing heavier riffs, To Escape Is To Suffer offers a modern day metal paradox, for to stay within earshot of this album is also to suffer. - Ali “The Metallian”

UPON INFLICTION - INHUMAN... IN HUMAN - ARCTIC  
Upon Infliction is a real death metal band and holds true to a lot of the characteristics and requirements of the style. The speed is present and the heavy riffing is not lacking in any form. With phlegmy vocals and dejected lyrics linked to death and destruction the band has the whole repertoire going for it. In this area, the album’s title is also fitting except that the concept of humanity should not ever be construed positively. Human, by nature, are mean and sickening parasites. The cover artwork should help illuminate the concept.
Upon Infliction falls short however and does so in a critical area. The creativity and quality is missing in the songs. The songs blur into one another partly because they are not as exciting as one would hope and partly because the sound is barely average for this day and age. In fact, the rhythm guitar is shy at best and often buried under the drums. The band needs to push these up and get a sharper, nay, get a tone for the guitars. The solos are basic too. It isn’t until the sixth track, Immortally Unleashed, that the song introduces something to the fray. Oddly, it is a little bit of an old Pestilence pattern that appears mid-track. The closing cut Dark Path is thrashier and more melodic and a contrast. Average rating for an average album that is in one’s face, but makes no impact. - Ali “The Metallian”