New Era Productions, 2017
Genre: Black Metal
1. Arousing the Sleeping Serpent (Intro)
2. Destroy the Human Within
3. Wrath of the Djinn
4. The Fall (Prelude)
5. Hybris
6. At the Crossroads
7. Oracle of the Dead
8. The Mountain of Oath
9. The Prometheus Unbound
10. LCF
It is with great pleasure that I present you with one of the best albums released in 2017. Given how often I listen to this thing since it was released, I'll probably have to name it as my top album. Apparently working on albums for a great length of time is working to Infinity's favor, so I won't expect them to release something again for a while, but in a few years I now expect one hell of a release! I didn't think they were going to be able to do much beyond "Non de Hac Terra"... but I, very much, stand corrected.
"Hybris" is an incredible and wonderfully intense album. It seems they went through some line-up changes again and Andras has left the band leaving it down to Draconis and Balgradon and what a team they appear to make! As with the last album the Dissection influence is clear, but I was surprised to hear quite a bit of influence from "Reinkaos", given how that wound up being a far more popular sounding album and quite a few of the die-hards out there weren't a fan. However, just listening to the opening of "Wrath of the Djinn" and you'll see where I'm coming from. Now, "Hybris" doesn't just re-work that type of album, no, "Hybris" brings us back into the fold of Black Metal and gives us an album that I would expect as the follow-up to "Storm of the Lights Bane". "Hybris" is the album that I think everyone wanted to hear from Dissection, but we just never really god. Now we have Infinity filling that gap for us and this is a style they do extremely well, only with a bit more of a focus on the Black Metal edge. In the prior albums they've been experimenting with catchier riffs and Draconis has found some seriously excellent moments, in fact, he's probably the best guitarist that has worked with the band. The music is so much more well thought out than ever before and the writing is top notch. Not only are there catchy riffs spread throughout the entire album, they've even injected a bit of groove into sections of some songs, making for an extremely varied experience. You can even hear some really Thrash inspired riffs, especially in songs like "At the Crossroads". I also assume "LCF" is influenced, in some part, by the movie "The Ninth Gate", because the book that inspired the movie had little to do with that. It's quite the album closer as well.
As with the prior albums they've gone all out with their layout and booklet. This one is even better than the last and I feel the lyrics are even better this time around. It's tough to top a song like "The Opponent", but they manage to pull it off on this album. It's absolutely worth having a physical copy to look through as far as I'm concerned. This is also the first album not recorded by Balgradon and instead the band has turned to the might Necromorbus studios and it naturally sounds incredible. Few studios out there today really achieve the immense and powerful nature of Black Metal, while still having the music feel very organic, while still being quite polished.
In the end I'm rather shocked this isn't blowing up in the metal scene more. Sure a lot of people have heard and enjoyed the album, but I would have thought this would be Infinity's breakthrough album to major popularity just given the nature of an album like this. Either way, this album is an immense journey. A journey that I highly recommend taking.
New Era Productions, 2013
Genre: Black Metal
1. Non de Hac Terra
2. The Opponent
3. Reginam Aeternum Noctis
4. Beyond the Stars...
5. The Grey Stone Monument
6. Onwards the Funeral Pyre
7. Unholy Sacrament
8. The Inevitable Darkness
I thought Infinity had fired back with a monumental album for them with "The Wisdom of Arcane Shadows" and I'm happy to be very corrected with the release of "Non de Hac Terra"... this thing is a monster of an album. If you haven't been paying attention to Infinity, because there were always other bands of similar ilk doing similar things, well now it is time to stand up and pay attention. "Non de Hac Terra" launches a whole new level of Infinity's musical career and they absolutely have my attention now, more so than ever before.
With the re-recordings of the last release we saw the addition of Draconis on guitars and this is the first album he truly appears on. He and Andras have hit upon a winning formula in my opinion. Infinity are still playing their signature Swedish style of Melodic Black Metal, but with Draconis it feels like the Dissection influence has been increased quite a bit. However, it doesn't sound like a rip-off by any stretch of the imagination, because along with this more complex song writing composition we have some excellent stand-out riffs! There's at least one per song and they're so good that they just elevate the entire experience. They also manage to give their music a soaring epic quality, which is something a lot of the Melodic Black Metal acts didn't have as much. Sacramentum hit upon it from time to time, but it wasn't really a mainstay of their sound. I think Infinity take the Swedish Black Metal formula and merely enhance it and build upon those ideas, so this album sounds quite fresh in the grand scheme of things. Coupled with the fact that Balgradon is not a boring drummer and we really have a winning album on our hands here.
As with "The Arcane Wisdom of Shadows" they went all out with the booklet design and really makes owning a physical copy worth it. Really beautiful layout and design once again! I like how they take the time to come up with a design that really complements the music and fits with the lyrics quite a bit.
In the end this is an amazing album. Infinity certainly deserve a lot more recognition than they've been given over the years. It's almost like Sacramentum all over again, I remember when they were putting out albums people didn't seem that interested in them. Fast forward ten years later and people absolutely love that band... well I loved them when they were active! Same goes for Infinity, just show anyone the song "The Opponent" and I guarantee they'll be hooked. I'll be suitably shocked if Infinity manage to top this album, because this is one of the finest in their discography for sure.
New Era Productions, 2012
Genre: Black Metal
1. Back to the Source (Summon the Black Flame)
2. Autumn Storm
3. The Birth of Death
4. Frozen Cries
5. The Ancient Shadow
6. Earth's Last Picture (Darkthrone cover)
7. Unsilent Storms in the North Abyss (Immortal cover)
8. Sacrifice (Bathory cover)
It's been quite a while since we've heard from Infinity once again and it's interesting to see them fire back with this. "Back to the Source" is not an album of new material from this project instead it features some re-recorded material and old covers they recorded a while ago. It comes in a bit of a digipak style packaging. The release is limited to 250 hand-numbered copies and I own #229.
The re-recorded songs are a blend of a few songs from "The Birth of Death" and "Nostalgia for the Dark Age". It seems they've been sitting on this re-recordings for a while, because they were made back in 2009. This also features a new guitarist named Draconis. He actually played guitar on the Dissection cover from the previous album. Perhaps Draconis is going to be filling a bigger role alongside Andras and they decided to re-record some older material. It certainly sounds a lot better than the original material, a testament to how far Balgradon has come as a sound engineer. The cover songs are a little different since they were recorded back in 2004, so they don't sound as good as the recordings from 2009. This isn't to say they are bad or anything, they're just a bit more harsh production value wise compared to the rest of the album. Naturally Infinity does a great job on the covers and really captures of the atmosphere of the original.
I think this is really a release only for major collectors, hence the low limitation. I really enjoy Infinity and the works they put out so I'm happy to have this in my collection even though it's not something I would ever really pull out all that often. It's enjoyable for what it is, but unless you're really fond of Infinity this probably really isn't worth tracking down in the grand scheme of things.
Bloodred Horizon Records, 2008
Genre: Black Metal
1. Precatio Luciferius
2. From the Eternal Sea He Rises
3. Our Merciless Rage
4. The Rise of Azazel
5. The Legacy of the Ancient Ones
6. Within the Timeless Winds of the Beyond
7. Stare into the Void
8. The Mysteries of the Depths
9. Choronzon
10. The Legend of the Sunken Monastery
11. Night's Blood (Dissection cover)
Infinity have stopped their album per year trek and it's actually been a little while since we heard from the project. Since they changed labels, I actually missed out on this release for a while, because it really never made it into the U.S. I'm glad I back tracked and picked this up though because this is an excellent album. Infinity have steadily been progressing to writing better and better music and this album is no exception. I was surprised to see the band went through some line-up changes in the years between the last album and Quasar has left the project and now it is just down to Balgradon and Andras.
The first thing I notice on here is the quality album layout and design. It's a really excellent digi-pak setup with a full booklet inside. It's really beautiful designed and great to look through as your listening to the music and reading the lyrics. After the ambient and chanting intro the first thing you'll notice is how ear catching the first song is. That's right, they finally injected a layer of catchiness into their guitar work and it has worked out splendidly. A lot of the prior albums have had riffing that was a bit overly droning at times and not enough of the riffs really stood out, but with "The Arcane Wisdom of Shadows" that changes and here we have a solid blend of the two riffing. They flat out even have driving rhythmic moments like in "The Legacy of the Ancient Ones". Either way, I think there's about one or two stand out riffs per song and they tend to sing over the more droning riffs, which really makes for an excellent listen. They've also got a serious dose of melody injected into the guitar lines making this album feel like a blend between Dissection and Emperor, minus the keyboards. They don't use acoustic guitars as much as they used to, but there is at least one or two songs where they show up again. Towards the end of the album we take a bit of a strange ambient break with the song "Choronzon" and with only two songs left on the album it's kind of a strange thing to do, especially when one of those songs is a cover song. Granted the final song "The Legend of the Sunken Monastery" clocks in at eight minutes and is a killer song as well.
This is probably the best Infinity album in their discography so far. The guitar work is immensely enjoyable compared to prior releases and Balgradon's drum work is spectacular as usual. One of the things that really stands out about him is that he creates fairly interesting drum arrangements and isn't solely relying on blasting his way through an album. So, I really appreciate the effort he puts into working out arrangements that really complement and album! I really hope this is a whole new direction for Infinity and I really look forward to the next release from this project.
Total Holocaust Records, 2005
Genre: Black Metal
1. Enter Thy Labyrinth of Hell
2. Under Crimson Wings of Hate
3. Through the Mirror of Dreams
4. Whispers from the Swamps of Despair
5. The Necromantic Kiss
6. In the Spell of the Dreaming Dead
7. Funeral of the Soul
8. The March of the Luciferian Empire
Infinity has been on track to release a new album every year and 2005 is no exception to that. Like their prior albums "Enter Thy Labyrinth of Hell" is a steady improvement over the prior releases as well. This album comes with a really nicely multi-page booklet and looks really well designed overall. The only major complaint I have is that the font choice is a little difficult to read, but that's really about the only complaint I have. The font choice does look very good in this context and fits the overall atmosphere, it's just hard to read.
Musically this album basically continues where "The Birth of Death" left off, but this time around it just sounds better. I think the writing has gotten a lot stronger and the whole atmosphere feels much more intense than before. It also seems like the band increased their overall speed and can play far more intense songs than before. Now, it's nothing like Setherial's "Hell Eternal",which is mostly all blasting, but "Enter Thy Labyrinth of Hell" is certainly far more varied. I prefer my Black Metal to be more like this where it switches up arrangements a lot more and Balgradon does an excellent job of doing that on the drums. The guitar lines may not be the most interesting in the world, but his drum arrangements help them stand out a lot more and really make the difference between this being bland versus interesting. They've gotten a bit stronger in the riff writing department as well, songs like "The Necromantic Kiss" do catch my attention with the riffs alone, whereas before they didn't do that as much before.
For Infinity this is quite a stand out album so far and I think they're finally hitting on a formula that works really well for them. While I certainly enjoy Infinity whenever I listen to them, I don't think they're putting out music in such a way that it's better than other bands I've already got in my collection... so it's tough to say this is must hear music. However, if you're on the search for solidly performed Black Metal that is also fairly well recorded then Infinity is certainly a project that is worth checking out. I would absolutely recommend this album, because it's got some killer material on it and the overall album is very well done.
Total Holocaust Records, 2004
Genre: Black Metal
1. Our Cruel Vengeance
2. Flames in Hunger
3. Back to the Source
4. Heart of Stone
5. Corvus Corax
6. Frozen Cries
7. The Birth of Death
8. The Sun No Longer Rises (Immortal Cover)
The second album from Infinity, even though it was released very quickly after the first feels like an even better and far more cohesive album. On this album Balgradon recruited another guitarist named Andras to join Quasar. On this album Balgradon only played acoustic guitars, but the rest was up to the other two guitarists. I'm sure Balgradon still writes a lot of this music, one of the tracks, "Corvus Corax" comes from their first demo.
"The Birth of Death" sounds a lot better compared to the prior album and it's clear Balgradon's engineering skills are getting a lot stronger! He's managed to capture that perfect balance between sounding raw and having the instruments sit in the mix well enough to hear everything. I actually really like the way the album sounds in that regard. Musically I still think things feel pretty closely related to Funeral Winds, and Hellchrist even offers up some guest vocals on one of the songs. I hear a lot of the Swedish style of Black Metal in this album for some reason, some Dark Funeral here and there, but then there are riffs in songs like "Heart of Stone" that aren't exactly like other areas. The use of the acoustic guitars in some sections reminds me a bit of what Christ Agony will do quite often, however, Infinity play a much faster version of Black Metal. All of this combines into a very good second effort. While Infinity certainly aren't doing anything original, they are still quite good at what they do and they've put together a pretty good album. The only thing some people may complain about is that a lot of the riffs aren't that memorable, nor do they hook you. A couple riffs here and there stand out, but not through every song. Even though this is the case, Infinity have still crafted an album with some great atmosphere in the raw Black Metal spectrum, which is more what I would look for anyway.
If you're a fan of raw Black Metal Infinity is probably a band worth checking out. They do a good job at what they do and I really enjoy listening to them when I have them on. The one problem is that I don't really gravitate towards it, having that burning need to hear it again and again. But in the end, they still generate that excellent hateful atmosphere that I look for in this style. I'm definitely going to stick with the project, because they've improved massively compared to the first album. "The Birth of Death" is much more elaborate and carefully composed that I think Infinity will improve upon their sound even more in the future.
Spectral Arts Productions, 2003
Genre: Black Metal
1. The Cold Dungeons of Solitude
2. The Conquering of Humanity
3. The Ancient Shadow
4. The Astral Gate to Infinity
5. Nostalgia for the Dark Age
6. Autumn Storm
7. Endless Sight
8. The Center of Chaos (Domain of the Ravens)
I missed out on the original Infinity demos, so my collection begins with "Nostalgia for the Dark Age", which also includes the material from their second demo, so I figure this is a good place to start. I've yet to ever hear the first demo though. The main reason I wound up finding Infinity is because I'm a fan of Funeral Winds. At the time Balgradon was still drumming in Funeral Winds and I've always enjoyed his drum work quite a bit. Who knew he played guitar and did vocals as well?
This album is split into two different sections. The first is the latest recorded material, which are all new songs except for one, which is a re-recording of a song from the demo version of this album. The second half is just the original demo under the same name. It looks like Infinity originally started as a solo project of Balgradon, but later another guitarist appears named Quasar, which probably helped to flesh out their sound a bit more. It's certainly a much better section than the original demo. Also, they've gotten a lot better at engineering their own material, so the overall mix and production quality is much better. I still hear quite a bit of the Funeral Winds style in the Infinity, sound, but I guess that should come as no surprise. The songs that were done just by Balgradon are okay, but the're a little boring at times. However, when you add Quasar into the mix, things are a little better. The songs feel more full, Balgradon probably just got better at writing by that time frame at least, but there is more of an atmosphere and essence to the music that the original demo doesn't seem to share. The older material sounds a lot more like your fairly standard mid-90's Black Metal, which is good, but nothing that really grabs your attention this time around.
So, Infinity is clearly off to a strong beginning. Even the differences between the two recording sessions is fairly major and I'd love to hear what kinds of improvements the project builds upon in the future. Nothing really stands out on the release, but nothing is outright bad either. Solid mid-range Black Metal, as far as I can tell, so it's a good starting position, now we wait and see where the project goes from here.
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