INSANE - Addicted

9 songs
42:44 minutes
***** ***
Thundering

Bandpage

Insane from the French town Nancy are an old school thrash metal band that has been around for quite a few years already. Since their inception in 1997, they have played, next to their native France, shows in Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg, without ever losing their underground status. They have been less busy on a recording schedule, as Addicted is only their third CD in ten years.

Main influences for Insane seem to be American thrash pioneers like Pantera, Testament and Overkill. The not so original vocals sound at times too much like James Hetfield, which isn’t dramatic though. Relying on classical thrash patterns, it is still obvious that Insane put a lot of heart blood into their songs. Although thrash metal is Insane’s general direction, they are not afraid to flirt with other genres. Ground Zero for instance has quite a modern touch and convinces with a powerful production. The New Plague shows the band from a more melodic side, drawing parallels to Flotsam And Jetsam. True Mental is a quiet, even sad instrumental… quite nice, but Testament did something similar already on their second album twenty years before.

The CD improves towards the end with two seven minute long tracks, full of breaks and surprising mood changes, displaying the true potential of Insane. Addicted is aimed mostly at nostalgic thrash fans, but as I count myself occasionally among that group, I have to admit that I feel quite attracted by Addicted.