Doom death from Venezuela? Why not, good music and the feelings that animate it have no borders and even from countries with little tradition in metal can come interesting proposals. It must be said, however, that Ad Intra, in order to pursue their activity in a more profitable way, moved to Spain, a nation where the scene appears to be growing decisively (Evadne, In Loving Memory, Helevorn, just to name the most prominent bands), but this does not detract from the fact that their provenance nevertheless constitutes an additional element of interest. Inside Us All certainly does not upset the compositional canons of doom death, resting on the cozy shores of a melancholic and decadent mood where the ghost of My Dying Bride (and consequently that of the bands just mentioned) hovers as ever in a cumbersome manner, but this does not detract from the fact that the album is littered with excellent insights and moments of high quality as well as sure involvement. For example, the opener The Wind That Brings Life shows a valuable work of the lead guitar, inserted in shadowy atmospheres but with a distinct melodic attitude, and similarly, Fall Asleep For Last Time stands out from the rest of the album with its apt keyboard openings and the perfect alternation between Daniel Luces’ fierce growl and the melancholy that shines through the musical fabric. It is precisely the use of vocals that is one of the aspects on which Ad Intra should pay more attention: as mentioned, nothing to object to about the growl but one cannot remain silent about an unconvincing use of backing vocals, which are recorded in a revisable manner and which, at certain junctures, prove not only superfluous but even annoying. Marked also by the less than excellent rendering of some instruments (the electric piano in particular) highlighted mostly in the negligible instrumental title track, Inside Us All encompasses other moments of definite value such as Silent The Night That Shelters Me and Visions Of A Lifetime, outlining an overall picture that certainly makes the Venezuelan band deserve a wide sufficiency, precisely by virtue of those cues that hint at considerable potential yet to be fully focused. Relying everything on a hypothetical as well as desirable interest of some label, whose intervention could certainly provide some more means to make optimal a sonic performance so far only discrete, we confidently await Ad Intra to the next long-distance test. 

2013 – Independent