Innumerable Forms

Punishment in Flesh

BY Brayden TurennePublished Aug 16, 2018

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It makes sense that members from such first class acts as Power Trip, Genocide Pact, Mammoth Grinder and Magic Circle would make quality music, but no one could anticipate the sheer magnitude of power that Innumerable Forms let loose with Punishment in Flesh, a true death doom cataclysm.
 
Standing as both title track and an accurate reflection of the whole album, "Punishment in Flesh" wallows in glacial heaviness before bursting into a raging tectonic rumble that would intimidate even the most staunchly macho meathead. "Reality," despite being the shortest song, still feels utterly substantial, due to the sense of weight that every member brings in their playing, especially the vocals, which are both deep and slightly echoed to feel like an elemental force of pure death. "Purity's Demand" and "Meaning" both revel more in the achingly slow trudge of doom, yet there is still a sense of balance.
 
The biggest problem with the album would be that it arguably peaks at the midpoint with "Re-Contaminated," a masterwork of riffing, tasteful soloing, and downright parasitic catchiness that will burrow deep in your memory for some time.
 
Punishment in Flesh is a reflection of idyllic death doom, and everything from the songwriting to the production exacts a standard of excellence that only furthers the band's efforts to crack the planet in twain.
(Profound Lore)

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