None of it is bad mind you, there’s just not much to get excited about. I found myself incredibly bored with this album the more I listened to it. The riffs are relatively stale with the occasional solo thrown in, and the monotone vocals really start to blend together after a while. The trigger-less drumming has a very organic sound to it, but never really gives you any reason to sit up and take notice. It’s worth pointing out that longtime drummer Jim “Grindhead” Deabenderfer, who played on the band’s first three full-lengths, left before this album. Nick Gallichio replaced him, and the other 3 members have been the same since the beginning.

One area where the album did show promise, and what drew me to their second album, Cadaverous Presence, is when they slow things down to a sludge/doom pace and really let the guitar tone create the mood. The beginning to “Depths of Despair” is the best example of this. Unfortunately it’s not used enough, and the album just plods along during its nearly 50 minute run time, which is easily about 20-25 minutes more than it should have been. If they trim the fat and focus their sound, these guys could put out a much better next album. Recommended for serious fans only, and those who pass won’t be missing much.

What you’re served with Haven for the Insane is a vomit-caked plate heaped with just about every putrid helping you’d come to expect from a group on the Ibex Moon Records roster, all wrapped up with a gritty stab-you-in-the-basement sound that’s sure to appeal to degenerates and perverts the (metal) world over. Beer-soaked vocals splatter over an intensely sick/thick background comprising of maniacal guitar work, churning low end and non-fucking-stop drum blasts. Tracks like…well, basically all of them showcase this, but highlights would be “Against Their Will,” with its relentless drum attacks, tempo shifts and evil riffing; “Embrace the Aftermath” for its eerie, crawling groove; and “Rage On…Fuck Off” for a twitching punk vibe and the best intro ever: “one, two…one, two, fuck you!” The only break from the madness is between songs, so wear your diapers, kiddies.

Having never heard Cardiac Arrest prior to Haven for the Insane, I can’t say where the album stacks up in comparison to earlier material, but with the ferocity and insanity spewed out of these 12 tracks, my bet is that the C.A. maniacs have been grinding out this unholy, chaotic Razorback-esque mess (I mean that in the best way possible) since their inception. And I say keep on deathrotting in the free world, gentlemen.