ALBUM REVIEW: Revenant – Inferi

Nashville, Tennessee. A city synonymous with music, though generally more inclined towards country than metal. The Artisan Era, a record label catering in technical death metal, is set to change that association. Founded by Malcolm Pugh, The Artisan Era is home to some of America’s most promising tech-death outfits in the underground, such as ENFOLD DARKNESS, AUGURY and, of course, Mr Pugh’s very own INFERI. Four years on since INFERI released their stunning come-back album, The Path of Apotheosis, Pugh and co. are back with Revenant.

Though INFERI are doubtlessly rooted, stylistically, in technical death metal, the band have never been limited by the seemingly singular focus that so many within the sub-genre seem to have of technicality above all else. There is no getting away from the fact that INFERI are a tech-death band, but even a cursory listen through their discography makes it apparent that the song-writing is focus, leaning more to melody, hooks and emotion rather then simply cramming as many notes into a riff as humanly possible. Revenant takes this approach to tech-death one step further, delivering a collection of songs where the incredible technicality is secondary to the quality of the song, where melody and passion are paramount and where the enjoyment of the listener takes prominence over simply showcasing impressive ability.

Revenant kicks off with Within the Dead Horizon – a track that fans of the band should be familiar with; a demo version was released last year. The album version has been tightened up a bit, clocking in about 20 seconds shorter, but there are no great changes except the sound quality. The sinister atmosphere, hook-filled shred and clearly delivered vocals are all still present. Condemned Assailant carries a much more melancholic atmosphere, amplified by what appears to be an organ. Though orchestration is subtly present in the opening two tracks, INFERI really ramp up the symphonic elements with A Beckoning Thrall, with heavy use of strings and the organ from Condemned Assailant featuring prominently throughout the song, lifting the atmosphere to the forefront.

The first of two tracks to feature a guest musician, Through the Depths is arguably the most straightforward tech-death song on Revenant – if tech-death can ever be straightforward. Featuring James Malone of ARSIS, the song forgoes much of the atmosphere and orchestration developed thus far, opting for high-tempo, unrelenting and mindbogglingly impressive shred. INFERI step back to the focus on atmosphere with Enraged and Drowning Sullen, opening the track with sinister acoustic guitar work complimented by symphonics that run through the whole track alongside the crushing tech-death on display.

Though Revenant has been a masterclass in technical death metal thus far, it is with the final four tracks that INFERI really display a mastery of song-writing and musical execution, with each track fiercely contending for the spot as the best song on the album. Thy Menacing Gaze’s intro is absolutely massive, fading in to a monstrous song with huge focus on melody. The longest track on the album, Malevolent Sanction clocks in at a whopping 8 minutes 53 seconds. Opening with heart-wrenching acoustic guitars and a beautiful string section, the song slowly builds into a hook-filled beast. Dancing seamlessly between high-tempo shred and stunning, bluesy lead work, Malevolent Sanction moves into a superb instrumental section, allowing each musician to showcase his chops, before thundering back into the shred as a choir leads the track to a close.

Smoulder In The Ash is the only track to feature orchestration from Mike Low alongside Malcolm Pugh, and his touch shines through. With the orchestration featuring possibly the most heavily in any track on Revenant, the piano and string work perfectly compliments the catchy riffs. The final track from the record is the record’s lead single, Behold The Bearer of Light, and it brings Revenant to a triumphant close. Featuring stunning guest vocals from THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER’s Trevor Strnad, the song is quintessential of INFERI‘s signature sound, mixing sheer technicality with an abundance of melody, a blackened rawness and epic, emotive orchestration.

Throughout Revenant as a whole, there is a number of consistencies that deserve note. First and foremost, the vocal performance from Sam Schnieder is consistently excellent, with his crystal-clear delivery allowing his blackened, high-end rasp and guttural growls to cleanly cut through the music. That said, his vocals remain at a high-pitched, raspy scream for the majority of the record, and a little more of his lower vocals would have gone a long way. It should go without saying that the guitar work here is outstanding – there is no such thing as lazy or sloppy guitar work in tech-death. But something that really stands out is how bluesy some of the leads and melodies are – when the shredding and entity takes a step back, as it often does across Revenant, and allows the leads to take centre stage, often Malcolm Pugh and Mike Low take the opportunity to slow things down a bit, delivering guitar work that, while still undeniably metal, has a real blues twinge to it, further embedding the soulful passion the record carries.

Something that really takes Revenant to the next level from The Path of Apotheosis is the use of orchestration. This is something that had been experimented with previously, but is much more present here than every before. The symphonics really lift the sound, cementing the atmosphere and giving the record as a whole a truly epic level of scale.

All killer, no filler, and consistently delivering something very close to perfection, it’s hard to regard Revenant as anything other than a modern-day masterpiece. At every turn this record delivers nothing short of extreme excellence, from the quality of the song-writing to the sheer technicality on display; from the lyrics to the vocal delivery and musical execution; from the atmosphere created to the crisp, pleasing production – Revenant is exemplary. INFERI may be a band rooted in the underground for the moment, but the undeniable majesty of this record puts many of metal’s big names to shame. They say that nothing is so perfect it cannot be improved upon, but Revenant gets pretty damn close.

Rating: 9/10

Revenant is set for release on April 21st via The Artisan Era.

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