INSENSE is a Metalcore-esque band from Norway, formed in 1999 and launched into proto-stardom after drawing the attention of IN FLAMES front man Anders Fridén during the recording of their third album, "The Silent Epidemic". They were nominated for Best Metal Album in the Norwegian Grammies in the year 2011 for their 4^th­ ­album, "Burn In Beautiful Fire", and now they're back with their 5­^th­ ­installment, "De:Evolution".

Before we go on, let's be very clear about one thing: I don't like Metalcore, and I wasn't convinced otherwise by INSENSE's odd bend of it, and as such everything I say from here on should be read with this in consideration.

"De:Evolution" starts off rather abysmally with the incredibly boring and repetitive half-song half-intro "Part I: Conception", which honestly made me question if was going to live through the remainder of the album. However the remainder of the album never returns to the abyss from whence it came, and the two tracks that followed the start, "Meandering" and "Lethargy" respectively, are arguably the strongest tracks on the album.

But that's not saying much. Those songs are bland and uninteresting, and the rest are worse, as they continuously break away in boring rhythms, tempos and riffs over and over. In classical Metalcore fashion they implement temporary sections of melody in between the breaks, and these were the only parts of the album that I felt even remotely inclined towards. The entire album, from beginning to end, fail to inspire any kind of emotional, intellectual or musical response from me, and that would normally be an immediate cut-off for me.

But I can honestly say that given the music they play - which as I previously stated is not to my liking to begin with - they're actually not that bad. Never, except for in the beginning, did I feel like turning the music off, and on some level I think that hints at this actually being a good album for those who enjoy this kind of music: The quality is superb, the song structure is intriguing and there are definitively melodies and riffs in here that should be appealing to the right audience.

But I'm not it. I will never play "De:Evolution" or anything of INSENSE again. But I also won't cringe when I accidentally hear it, so I guess that's something.