Artist: Inquest
Title: ST
Type: Demo
Label: SR

I was slightly hesitant with this one as it’s a demo from a fairly young band who have nothing really more out there than a MySpace page with a bit of info and a couple of scheduled (first) gigs in places such as St Albans and Potters Bar. The members all list amongst their influences Trivium as well as a lot of other bands that I wouldn’t be seen dead listening to. Still I gave it a whirl and was instantly horrified by the dire sound coming out the speakers and went to turn the stereo up. The cheeky ladies and gents in the band had played that tied and tested trick that has cost me more than one amp in the past by doing this on purpose and then laying out a much better and louder volume in its wake.

Guitars peal away and as ‘Wasteland’ gets going it’s quickly evident that singer Anna has quite a powerful and melodic voice. The other point that is also apparent is that the musicianship is not very tight at all and unfortunately as is the case with most of the tracks on this seven song demo it is as though they are all playing different songs at the same time. Individually they can play as solos illustrate but often together things are all over the place. Still there is plenty of time to build on things and there is plenty of promise here. ‘Bones And Bruises’ adds backing gang shouts into the fray but for me it is the lead vocals that are the focus point of the band. Inquest do have their own identity and things are kept heavy and no doubt the music here will appeal to the average metal-head. It certainly does not have me thinking they sound like any other band in particular and to me the spoken word ‘Interlude’ sounds like it is from the bygone days of 80s’ Anarcho punk. With a bit more practice and experience there is nothing to say that Inquest don’t have a healthy future.

http://www.myspace.com/inquestuk