Release Date April 22nd, 2026
Format CD
Genre Melodic Death Metal
Origin Japan
Formed in Osaka in 2006, Inhale spent years building and reshaping their sound before arriving at this point. Rooted in the classic heavy metal tradition and filtered through the intensity of melodic death metal, the band orbit around guitarist Takahiro "Hasshin" Hashimoto, (ex-King Of Darkness), whose work defines the architecture of everything they do. "Blue Moment" is their first full-length in over a decade, recorded and produced at Hashimoto's own Studio Galaxy Blast. Vocalist Yusuke "Uske" Shimomura, bassist Akira "Tatty" Tateyama, and drummer Tatsuya "Pan" Fujimori round out the current lineup, and the four of them make this album a complete statement rather than a reunion exercise.
"Blue Moment" is the kind of album that knows what it wants and goes after it without detours. Inhale draw from a lineage that includes
Trivium, As I Lay Dying, Arch Enemy, and Testament, and those influences sit openly in the mix, not as imitation but as a shared grammar. The riffing is precise, the melodic leads are genuinely expressive, and the album's structure gives each song room to develop rather than piling on aggression for its own sake. Where a lot of modern metalcore settles for the same dynamics in every song, Inhale shifts between power and restraint with enough control that the heavier sections actually land.
Shimomura is the variable that changes the equation. His clean vocals carry real range and conviction, and when he pivots to harsher delivery, the transition adds dimension to the songwriting rather than checking a genre box. Tracks like "Resurgent Threat", "Sanctuary", and "Silence Is Broken" make full use of that range and are where the album does its best work. "Eternal Dawn" and "Resurrection" close things out with enough momentum that the album's twelve-track length feels earned.
The production by Hashimoto is clean without being sterile. Every instrument is audible and the mix has warmth in the low end without muddying the guitar work. For a self-produced record, it holds up against anything coming out of bigger studios in this genre right now. "Blue Moment" is a focused, well-executed melodic metal record from, and this album earns its place.
|8.0
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