If you love Atheist and always hoped they would release music less subtle than Piece of Time, you’re in for a fucking treat. Inscribed’s debut Upon the Twisted Throne bursts at the seams with oodles of noodles and rippin’ death thrash, and its trappings are olde and raw, evoking aesthetics from a time long before this Miami sound machine was conceived. What Inscribed lacks in restraint, though, they counterbalance with white-knuckle enthusiasm as they barrel through nine bite-sized, bass-fraught knots of labyrinthine compositions. 2026 has witnessed a slew of exciting thrash and thrash-adjacent platters already, but when all is said and done, will Inscribed sit Upon the Twisted Throne and claim the crown?

Though I consider Inscribed’s debut to be more thrash than death, Upon the Twisted Throne skirts many of thrash’s conventions. First, the band inhabits an interesting arena where the trademark palm mutes and chugs withdraw to make room for Inscribed’s guitar ‘n’ bass bonanza. Besides Atheist, Evie Austin’s ebullient bass recalls Cannibal Corpse’s Alex Webster and ex-Death, ex-Sadus bassist Steve Digiorgio’s frenzied fretwork, awhirl with ever-shifting moods and grooves. On guitar, Mario Alvarez occasionally röars into a Voivodian dimension via erratic riffing (“Demolition Zone”) and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink anarchy (“Time Still Passes”),¹ while elsewhere he leans into Nocturnus-tinged eruptions and flurries (“On the Stage of Death,” “Evasive Mind”). Lucas Moore, the third leg of Inscribed’s tenacious tripod, pulls double duty on drums and vocals, sounding a dead ringer for Destruction’s Schmier with his sufficiently nasty growls while supplying a gnarly drum performance to boot. All told, the sheer aural audacity that Inscribed showcases is dazzling, and regardless of the influences they conjure, the end result downright sizzles.

Inscribed’s performances delight across Upon the Twisted Throne, where no one lets off the gas for thirty-four minutes straight. Austin’s low-end machinations struck me hardest my first time through Throne, where she plucks, pops, and punches with an insatiable lust for MOAR. Her style solidly inhabits lead bass territory, effectively sharing duties with Alvarez, and together their tandem begets a heady brew. The opening salvo of “Inquisition for Hatred,” “Machinery of War,” and “Demolition Zone” wallops with unconventional structures and protean songwriting that never settles in one place before Upon the Twisted Throne twirls you in another direction. And really, the album does this its entire way through, never content to lock in on a melody or riff before jumping to another. In this way, Upon the Twisted Throne reminds me of Megadeth’s debut, where Inscribed packs in an album’s worth of seeds and ideas into each track. On one hand, this approach makes for listening that quakes with possibilities and rewards repeated spins, but it also erodes the memorability of individual riffs and songs.

Inscribed covers an immense swath of notes in just over half an hour, cementing Upon the Twisted Throne as a vibrant debut. The production is raw yet clear, allowing listeners to pick out guitars, bass, drums, and vocals at any given moment. This is fantastic news given Inscribed wrote an album that oozes fun and intricacies worth exploring again and again. And though sometimes ‘fun’ can be code for silly, there’s nothing unserious about Upon the Twisted Throne. That said, there is an opportunity to hone the songwriting and give individual tracks more distinct identities, as Inscribed’s pure exuberance can make it difficult to latch onto specific passages. Still, the album is crafted with such blatant love for inspirations that the music becomes obscenely contagious.

Upon the Twisted Throne quickly wormed its way into my ever-expanding 2026 thrash cache, where my favorite genre-specific releases get abused when I want to bang my head with a cold one (or two) in tow. Given the runway ahead of these precocious metalheads and how well they’ve coalesced in so short a time, Inscribed has potential written all over them. I’ve greatly enjoyed my time with these Florida folks, and if you’ve got the fortitude for a quick sesh of fiery death thrash, I highly recommend you pop a squat Upon the Twisted Throne.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Awakening Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: June 19th, 2026

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