Denmark’s Iniquity have been around since 1989, and, unfortunately, split up 15 years later in 2004, much to my dismay. In 2003, however, they released Iniquity Bloody Iniquity, a compilation of their "greatest hits", unreleased tracks, demo and live material. The material basically goes in reverse order, starting from their newest material and working their way backwards. Opening up the CD are "Revel In Cremation" and "Madman Of The Trade" originally released on the limited edition Revel In Cremation 7" EP in 2002. It’s straight ahead old school-flavored groovy technical death metal with hypnotic rhythms that’ll leave you nodding, air-drumming and air-guitaring your way throughout. The material is very similar to what you’d come to expect after listening to Grime, very catchy death metal with wicked hooks. After that is a previously unreleased cover of Pestilence’s "Extreme Unction", another one of my all-time favorite old-school death metal bands and Iniquity more than do them justice with their rendition, even adding a bit of Dutch flair to their sound. After that comes some of the "best of" material from all of their previous releases beginning with "Bloodletting" and "The Bullet’s Breath" from Grime. The music is fast, heavy, technical and with plenty of great riffs, and thick raspy vocals and solid drum patterns. Following this are "Inhale The Ghost" and "The Rigormortified Grip" from Five Across The Eyes along with the bonus track "Cocooned" from the digi-pack version of the release. The thin-sounding production makes it my least favorite Iniquity release, as it lacks that thick bassy sound that’s been their trademark since the beginning, but the songwriting is still topnotch, although "Inhale The Ghost" really isn’t a track I’d consider one of their best, but "The Rigormortified Grip" is definitely a solid track and "Cocooned" is a completely worthwhile bonus. The line-up between Grime and Five Across The Eyes was only slightly different, with a change in 2nd guitarists on the two releases, the change between Five Across The Eyes and their cult classic The Hidden Lore mCD is much greater, with only drummer Jesper Frost and guitarist Brian Eriksen remaining to record on the two releases (Eriksen left after Five Across The Eyes). "Desiderated Profligacy" and "The Hidden Lore" from the four track mCD are by far two of my favorite songs by any band on any release. The music is less technical and more straight-ahead old school with thick punishing grooves and will leave your hair (if you have any) swaying for hours after the music has stopped. Death metal simply does not get any better than this! Following this is "Encysted And Dormant" from the band’s 1995 debut Seranadium which features an entirely different line-up from The Hidden Lore, there isn’t a single returning member from one album to the next, with only 2 years between the albums. Remarkably, you can still note the distinct Iniquity sound, though Seranadium was even less technical and more of a straight ahead brutal death metal release, but is still incredibly heavy and catchy. Following this is "Retorn" a single track recorded for The Very Best Of Progress compilation CD. Once again, there are line-up changes, and even drastic changes in sound, with the track including keyboards and a more symphonic approach at parts, with the heavy bits sounding extremely like Butchered At Birth-era Cannibal Corpse. "Entangled" from the 1993 Promotiontape demo is just bare-bones old school death metal, again with the symphonic elements mixed in. "Torn" from the 1991 Entering Deception demo actually has more of a Bestial Devastation-era Sepultura sound mixed with early Amon/Deicide and Eaten Back To Life-era Cannibal Corpse. Definitely a drastic change from how they sounded 12 years later. Following the demo material is two live tracks, the first is "Prophecy Of The Dying Watcher" from the 1994 Diehard Brutal Youth Live compilation, and actually sounds very clean and sharp for a live recording, obviously taken straight from the mixing board and cleaned up a little, which makes me yearn to see them live. Also included on the CD is a video of "The Bullet’s Breath" which I never bothered watching, as I didn’t want to be reminded that I’ll never get a chance to see the band live. All in all Iniquity Bloody Iniquity is a solid finale to the greatness that was Iniquity. 15 tracks, 8 of which I’d never heard before. All I can say is if you don’t own an Iniquity album, the question isn’t whether you are a douche bag, its how big of a douche bag are you? If you’ve never heard them before, I’d definitely suggest picking up Iniquity Bloody Iniquity as your starting point. If you have heard them and are a fan, then this release is definitely a must-have, just for the rare tracks alone. Buy it, now!

Review byTeufel