German Metalcore outfit RISING INSANE dropped their debut album this year. A culmination of two years of writing and recording, the album was actually first devised in the year 2012 and took 5 long years to see release.

"Nation" flaunts 11 tracks of dissonant melodic Metalcore sound. The title track "Nation" is the first highlight of this album, as the previous songs are a little too dull except for the breakdown-centric "Resistance". "Nation" on the other hand, delivers the punch that the previous tracks failed. With a strong message beneath and heavy guitar riffs paired along with the typical drum grooves as that of a Metalcore band, "Nation" makes an everlasting first impression.

"This Can't Be Us" is surprising and mesmerizing as it gets heavier and slower, starting with an elegant intro followed by a filthy and heavy breakdown that brings back the aggression. Soaring cleans on top of screams perfect the vocal section whereas the instrumentation section is well handled with a breakdown that keeps reappearing, and yet the true elegancy lies within the last minutes of the track when a bass section paves way for a solo that traces the breakdown played in the background. In short: well crafted song structure and good songwriting.

Eighth track, "Thousand Pieces", is a typical Melodic Metalcore track with a wide range of elements ranging from Techno breakdowns to Rap Rock-esque vocal style. "Thousand Pieces" is a track for all melodic Metalcore lovers and might as well be on their daily playlist. The album closes with yet another well-crafted song, "Running Wheel". Even though the lack of meaty riff might be a let down the vocals are what I like on this song. There is perfectly driven clean to screams transition that doesn't fall apart as it is integrated into the Instrumentation. A good way to end an album, as far as I'm concerned.

"Nation" is an album that marks the rise of a mutating melodic Metalcore band. Considering the fact that this is RISING INSANE's debut effort, they pretty much nailed it. Even though there are some minor flaws on the first half of the album, the second part covers them all up - I expected more songs like "This Can't Be Us" as it's the main highlights of "Nation". That being said Nation is a good album to start a band's career and I hope that some more modifications will be done to the band's sound in their sophomore effort.