French Grindcore/Death Metal band INHUMATE released Eternal Life, their seventh record and final one from their planned heptalogy, on April 23^rd 2021. Dealing with the evolution of human life and the "abolition of time", the album presents a relentless assault to your ears on 22 tracks, just barely over half an hour.

"Eternal Life" follows the Grindcore and Brutal Death Metal scripts with ease, as these seasoned musicians showcase their chemistry and skills without losing any minute. Time is crucial when none of your songs reach the three-minute mark, and some don't even go over twenty seconds. "Phoenix" is a really good start, with some Thrashy undertones, a quite possible the most fun and simply odd vocal work here.

Most of the tracks explore the same kind of ideas, nothing particularly new for a niche genre as Grindcore is. INHUMATE tick all the boxes of the genre, covering every aspect that fans would probably want: flashy musicianship, noisy production, infectious grooves from time to time, animalesque vocals (from piggy squeaks to bear grunts) and an overall boorish atmosphere, with little to no room for a pause.

It is hard to analyse this kind of work on a track-to-track basis, but there's some aspects to mention. The album has a particularly first half, although the quality rarely drops. The great climax of "The Step" is an early highlight. The band gets groovy at times, like the start of "Saturn", the second half of "Stardust" or in the brief interlude "I Want To Kill Some (Part VI)".

"Sick" is the closest we get to having a bit of a break, as the track ebbs and flows between extremely harsh sounds and softer section. The track, being the second longest at 2:09 minutes, feels more fully fleshed compared to other songs, having a somewhat primitive feel to it, more noticeable on the softer, quieter sections, with nostalgic chords colliding with yelling and off-beat vocalizations. The drums get quite tribal too, playing interesting patterns on the softer moments.

Several spoken word fragments pop up here and there, adding a distinct feel to the album, a bit of a personality considering the music doesn't sound particularly different in itself.

Overall, "Eternal Life" is a solid Grindcore record. I have to admit this is not the kind of stuff I prefer, as the repetitive nature of the music can get old quite easily for me. Still, INHUMATE does a great job at keeping things in flux with a ton of Punk energy in the mix. If you have half an hour to waste and ear-piercing relentless Brutal Metal is your thing, then "Eternal Life" might be a good way to kill time!