Album Review: Inherited - No Regrets
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
One thing that is abundantly clear when you listen to the Dutch fireball of energy that is Inherited, is that they are not a band to be taken lightly, as this is aggressive and punchy from the start. The music and composition belies their tender age, and after growing up on a feast of thrash, hardcore and groove, they have fused these genres together and have it oozing out of every pore, on this, their debut album.
My first instinct is to say that they worship at the feet of Rob Flynn and Machine Head, but when you get deeper into the record, you can hear bits of other bands including Hatebreed and Slayer. The quintet from Zeeland begins their sonic assault with police sirens and a gunshot, signalling the start of “No Regrets” which gets me thinking of Biohazard straight away. With founding member Marvin Wesdrop on guitar locked in a battle with fellow axeman Mida Giele, it is a breathless start, with that trademark hardcore drop midway, leading to a slower more brooding ending.
Neill Verdoorn on drums leads on “Urban Guerilla” before the heavy riffs take over. The song feels like a battle cry, and you get the anthemic howling from vocalist Jamie Versprille that will lead to many pit battles when played live. You get a nice bass interlude from Lucas Camonier, that pushes the song into another crunchy section that precedes “Spiritual Butcher” with its comforting thrash opening, accompanied by a deathly scream that will get people’s heads banging in no time.
For a young band, they have already performed at the 2024 version of the legendary Wacken Open Air, via winning a national Metal Battle. And you can see why, as their musicianship is on point throughout this record and would embarrass many older contemporaries. “Hard Life” has that gentle strumming guitar sound as an ongoing frenzy is audible in the background and has an opening line of “I am sick of all this stupid shit” which so many people will relate to.
They have a short, sharp shock next, with “Purge” being a potent and in your face song, that really ups their game and their intensity in equal measure. They slow it down towards the end, but it’s a bruiser of a track and leads into “Shitface”. Another hardcore riff and gutsy bassline signals another energetic song, with the twin guitars bouncing off each other to great effect.
They have a bit of a change at the beginning of “GFY” with drums and bass taking the reins and leading them into battle, before that trademark riff and guttural vocal style of Verspeille takes over. With some cleaner vocals sprinkled across the verses it gives a bit of respite but the rhythm throughout is pleasing to the ear and gives a good base for the song to be layered on.
With two tracks left, they serve their longest track, at nearly six minutes, up next called “Failed to Resist”. It shows a bit of variety in their approach, with a much slower section musically which is good to hear, but personally, I prefer their sharper edged approach, which reappears in their final song “Denial”. It serves as a timely reminder of what the band do best and completes one hell of a debut album that will earn them many plaudits along the way.
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