It’s been a long eight years since NY’s Torturous Inception released an album. I reviewed their second album that year, Arcane Dominion, and raved about it. Now we have the third album Life’s Worth. There are a bunch of lineup switcheroos, with Gunnar Rufo joining on bass. Devon De Carlo – Guitars, Dustin Primeau – Guitars, Jonathan Iovine – Drums all remain intact as well as going forward. Tyler Lauer who sings on this album and the band’s past material, has since departed. The band has since brought in Alex Valdez, as the replacement, who did a brief stint with the band from 2019-2020. Ok, with that out of the way, whew… let’s get onto this album. This has a huge Rings of Saturn influence on the very colorful and over-the-top album cover design, which I love. The band needs to plaster this sucker on a shirt, pronto!
There has been a bit of a shift in some of the writing, with the band incorporating more technical and progressive moments. For one, the band opens with “Guillotine Horizon”, with an acoustic opening moment. A far cry from what I was expecting. It does not last long as the brutal blasts and pinch harmonics come in, with the musical landscape taking on more of a tech approach. Tyler’s vocals are excellent, with his varying brutal tones as the brutality bludgeons us. The 2.07 section is technical with the guitar solo. The song shifts to a brutal beatdown slam and then clean vocals. What the hell? Fans of this brutal band better be open to new ideas. For me, these new influences are enhancements to the band’s overall sound. And the mastering from Alan Douches makes this the best Torturous Inception has ever sounded.
“Do What You Will Then Die” is up next, showcasing the progressive and technical aspects the band is throwing at us. Then the brutal blasts and Tyler’s filthy vocals take over to slap us from one side of the pit to the other. Some polyrhythms are tossed in with the start and stop oft-kilter drumming. The brutality flourishes with the blasts, the technical moments, the slow grooving slams, and moodier moments. The blasting and technical aspects do take on more of what Job For A Cowboy is doing nowadays.
“Crushed by the Weight of Hubris” has a great opening gallop, taking me back to 1991. The song rolls into a blast, slows down with aggressive vocals and gutturals. There is some dual layering of the vocal tones, and it takes on a Glen Benton – Deicide vibe. The song slows down with softer vocals and more atmosphere, to the death metal. Killer blasts ignite, then the song slows down, with quite a badass guitar riff. Yet another winner of a song.
“I Am What Remains” ends the album, and I think this is more of a realized version of what we may come to hear from the band in the future. Technical, slower moments, but no less heavy. Clean vocals over the blasts, with influences from The Faceless and Fallujah, the band is incorporating a lot more into their cache. There is plenty of brutality and squealing guitars alongside the progressive and technical nature of this song. This song is the band’s most mature and creative song to date. I will go further by saying this is one of the best songs they have written.
Life’s Worth, even at a brief 27 minutes, is the step forward Torturous Inception needed to take in order to separate from all the brutal slam bands in the Northeast section of the States. The music is more intricate and creative, and while I love all their past material, this is the band’s greatest achievement. This is forward-thinking, and I must say the clean vocal moments work exceedingly well during the parts they are inserted. The band is on fire vocally and musically, creating some complicated song structures. Amazing album, fellas!!
