Inferi is a melodic death metal band hailing from Tennessee, USA that plays their metal with a distinct technical touch. Formed in 2006 the band has had quite a flurry of line-up changes throughout the years for now settling on Malcolm Pugh on guitar and as backing vocalist, Mike Low also on guitar, Stevie Boiser as vocalist, Andrew Kim as bassist and Spencer Moore as drummer. This however did not stop the band from continuously touring and delivering steady stream of releases, up until today consisting of five full-lengths, an instrumental version, a demo and a single, even despite a lengthy pause in the band’s active existence. They are currently in the process of creating a new full-length album, but decided, just because they like to surprise, to throw in an EP. It holds five new songs, spans a little over 22 minutes and is titled Of Sunless Realms.
It starts off with the rather ominously opening The Abhorrent Art, a song that, with its rapid double drum lines, its filthy demonic vocals here and there, its unexpected rhythm changes and cold vibe, shamelessly leans towards black metal, but the death metal aspects are clearly audible, determining the main stream of the song. Verily a promising start. The obvious flirt with black metal continues throughout this release in various intensities, giving it a rather oppressing vibe overall, something I can only appreciate. The rapidly and continuously changing tempo and rhythm make it hard to line the various parts up exactly, causing a hint of disorganization at times, but that is definitely not a game stopper in my opinion. In fact, to be honest, it gives the songs a bit of extra character, adding to my listening pleasure. The high speed drums, the relentlessly instigating vocals, the tight guitar riffing that has no problem defying its own rhythm and the madly humming bass lines combine the songs into the musical equivalent of a controlled inferno that will keep you entertained throughout this EP, even more so with the addition of a few guitar solos and interesting intermezzos in each song. Intricate compositions that are well executed.
Seeing as this release only spans 22 minutes, two of which are taken by The Summoning, which is in fact a delayed intro, it’s obvious the length is a point of criticism, in my opinion the only one to be honest. However, like I said earlier, as this EP is a present to shorten the time until the next full-length album will be unleashed onto the world I’m not making a big deal out of it, hehe. Anyway, if you prefer your musical appetizer ominous, fast, melodic and aggressive this is certainly a band to keep an eye out for. I know I certainly will.
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