The first spin of Incorporated didn’t leave much of an impression on me. In fact, I had a very hard time really getting into the music. Sure, it is still the same good old Grip Inc. with Dave Lombardo’s tremendous drum fills, Gus Chambers’ raw screams and Waldemar Sorychta’s pounding riffs, but to me it all sounds terribly held back, and at times, even poppy. Rarely do we hear those terrific aggressive outbursts that marked the band’s style like on their debut album.

Furthermore, the music is terribly repetitive. Grip Inc. seem to excel at utter repetition these days. Over and over we hear the same chorus and the same guitar riff. To me this repetition really distracts from the quality of the tracks. Listen for instance to “The Man With No Insides”, by the end of the song you can pretty much sing its chorus while you sleep.

However, after a few more spins of this disc the power of Grip Inc. seemed to take effect and I started to appreciate Incorporated a whole lot more; even though it is far from what I would like to hear from such great musicians. Add to that the fact that they have managed to retain their own sound, one simply has to admit that they have delivered a pretty decent album once again. Although not as good as their debut, but then again none of the other Grip Inc. albums have reached that level either.

So what can you expect from Incorporated? Bombastic thrash metal with modern influences and a production with balls. And of course Dave Lombardo on drums. Need I say more? I think not.