Review INCITE ‘Wake Up Dead’

‘Wake Up Dead’ is the beginning of a new era for Incite. Having signed a deal with Atomic Fire Records allow the band to reach a much wider fanbase and ‘Wake Up Dead’ marks the starting point of the endeavor. Less new though are some of the songs on ‘Wake Up Dead’. The album feels like a hybrid of new material and old stuff that allows new fans to catch up easily.

Incite is the brainchild of Richie Cavalera. Cavalera, yes. Richie is the son of Gloria Cavalera and legendary thrash metal veteran Max Cavalera. That metal was more present in Richie’s childhood than usual children’s songs is a given which means that the musical imprint was metal and the outlet for this passion is called Incite.

The band started in 2004 and premiered in 2009 with ‘The Slaughter’. In case you’re interested how the band sounded at the time can enjoy a redone version of the title track of the debut, a song that finishes off ‘Wake Up Dead’ but let’s take it from the beginning.

Incite’s sound can be located somewhere between Lamb Of God and Machine Head, refined with some Pantera references. ‘Fuck With Me (Wake Up Dead’ is the spot-on opener, a metal blast with unstoppable freight train power. Howling guitars and a higher pace, combined with a solid portion of aggressiveness is what characterizes the massive opener. Musical muscle flexing is what ‘Sucker Punched’ stands for, a tune that follows ‘War Soup’. The latter is a sinister and hard-hitting song, driven by the typical Cavalera-groove and supported by stepfather Max.

‘Deadbeat’ is made for the pit and thematically reflects on the Covid-time, handing over to ‘Mental Destruction’. The fifth new song starts with an oppressive acoustic intro, before a mighty riff takes over and gives the song a Machine Head heaviness.

The rest of the album are songs from earlier releases. Each of the five albums is present with one song and we chronologically move back in time, from the ‘Build to Destroy’ to ‘The Slaughter’.

‘Wake Up Dead’ is certainly an extremely powerful album. Modern thrash metal with a lot of groove creates a platform for each of the songs. The new songs also show a next movement towards versatility, which is a good thing. It will be interesting to follow the band’s next steps and see if they manage to refine their own identity even more since big names are not always a benefit only.