Infestus manifested itself from the ashes of German outfit Dunkelfront in 2006 but it was only two years later that it gained the attention of a wider audience with the second full-length “Chroniken des Ablebens”, a concept which got excellent reviews. The new album comes with the seal of approval from label-mates Blut Aus Nord: tantalizingly entitled “Ex|Ist”, it delivers conceptual substance as well as another musical maelstrom.
Deserted by his companions along the way, Andras has been left responsible for the entire project and, judging from the result, it is clear that the guitarist, now multi-instrumentalist, had been the mastermind all along. Whilst only tapping into the AGM genre by occasionally pushing his sound into dissonant and oblique riffs if and when required by the song’s mood, Infestus does embrace the bleakest of atmospheric dramas by plunging in and out of harrowing harmonies in order to create a fierce storm of tormented, extreme emotions on the verge of catatonic schizophrenia. Being the mystery of primordial emotions the axis around which revolves human existence, Andras’ guitar lamentations pour a constant, everchanging flood of molten magma punctuated by ambient eeriness, thus defying the misery and agonizing despondency with which he paints his inner landscapes. He revels in his soul-searching with striking passion and intensity: his music is like a swollen river which rages towards the end of its path, where it will tumultuously cascade into the endless void. It feels like a desperate, crazed run which cannot be stopped, a metaphor tapping directly into the sorely tragic reality of existence itself. The human soul is like such river, doomed to reach the dizzying falls of oblivion, as time ineluctably ebbs and flows away from creation itself. Anguished melancholy is therefore one of the emotions at the heart of this touching album, which in the varied and sweeping guitar partitures takes sonic form of gripping melody akin to that of masters of the depressive genre such as Forgotten Tomb and Shining. But here the grimness and the intensity are such that not for one minute one doubts the honesty and sincerity of the artist, which also shows from the expressive enough vocals: Andras, both as passionate creator and heroic executor, takes black metal all-out into cathartic raw-emotions territory without taking any prisoners.
It is also worth mentioning that this traumatic yet exalted journey is enhanced by the excellent mastering by Necromorbus Studios, notoriously skilled at blending heaviness with epic and raw in equal measure.
“Ex|Ist” is an album I personally cannot stop playing and which undoubtedly will give pleasure to those who appreciate dark and full-on guitar-work.
-Mystery Flame
Release: May 2011
Label: Debemur Morti Productions
Avantgenre: All-out Atmospheric Black Metal
Duration: N/a
Origin: Germany
Official site: http://www.infestus.com
Review online since: 19.04.2011 / 21:46:07
TRACKLIST:
01. Akoasma
02. Down Spiral Depersonification
03. Darkness Blazing In The Flame Of Fire
04. Torn Observer
05. Mirror Mind Reality
06. Der Blick Hinaus
07. Descend Direction Void
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