Back in September 2006 when the majority of power metal fans had ventured down to Derby for a certain indoor festival I attended a virtually empty pub where Intense played to the handful of true metalheads who were around. Despite the terrible sound at the venue that night it was obvious that Intense were destined to go onto bigger things than playing to empty pubs and so it doesn’t exactly boggle my mind as to why Napalm Records took heed of this five piece. Intense have a style that is truly unique and unmistakable. Dark and ominous yet gloriously melodic, their sound is made up of thrashing riffs, technical drumming and topped off with power metal vocals that are almost gothic in approach. With it’s bombastic chorus and galloping riffs “Our Last Hope” is one of the tracks that stand out above the rest, along with “Insanity’s Call” which slows down the pace a little while still remaining heavy.
The disc concludes with the Chronicles of the Flesh trilogy which has some mesmeric progressive nuances. These three tracks blend together seamlessly into an 18 minute epic mixing aggressive melodies with some more tranquil sounds. The trilogy would appear to be built around a Matrix-like concept; a futuristic invasion of mankind where thoughts become controlled by an outside force through technology until a fight emerges to salvage their universe.
Intense have packed one hell of a metal punch with this follow up to 2003 debut “Second Sight”. They really are one of the most promising British metal acts and one worth looking out for in the future.