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Metal/Prog Metal CD Reviews

Infirmum

Walls of Sorrow

Review by Gary Hill

I probably shouldn't like this album. I mean, one of my pet peeves of a disc is when everything is of the rocking, heavy variety, without any mellow music to provide contrast. Add in the fact that I generally don't like growled vocals. The thing is, I really like this set a lot. In fairness, that first contrast issue is probably solved by the fact that while everything is loud and heavy, there is a good range in terms of tempo. The vocals are easier to understand than a lot of growling is. Those vocals also seem to work better with the music to create a unified tapestry than they do on a lot of other releases. No matter the reason, though, this is classy stuff.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2021  Volume 5. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2021.

Track by Track Review
To Darkness
A killer metal droning starts the proceedings. They modulate that as they intensify it. It fires out from there gradually. There is a real old-school metal edge to this as it grinds forward. The vocals are closer to extreme metal. They are pretty far down in the mix, though. They come up on the chorus bringing it more into a black metal zone.
Cause Of Sorrow
Musically this feels a bit more like stoner, metal. It's slower and more plodding. The vocals are again of the growled variety, bringing a different angle to the track. This is heavy in a very tasty way. This has some cool riffs and is just such a strong number.
Shadows Of The Past

The combination of growled vocals with the droned instrumental texture creates an intriguing kind of vibe. This is at once hypnotic and artistic, while still being heavy and decidedly metal. There are definitely comparisons to be made to shoegaze here. As strong as the last one was, I think I like this even more.

Silence

Heavy, rather plodding and so classy, this isn't a huge change from the previous cut, but it's also not a carbon copy. It's another stunning winner, largely elevated by some of the cool guitar riffing.

Doomed

A bit more energetic, this has some pretty fierce vocals. It also has some particularly classy guitar fills at times. This is heavy, fiery and so strong. 

Wake Me
They ramp up the intensity even more here. I absolutely love the riffing on the song. The vocals almost feel like another instrument on this song. The chorus is one of the most accessible of the whole disc. In fact, this is one of my favorites here.
Autumn Breeze

There is a dramatic sense of heavy majesty to this slower moving piece. This drives through with a lot of class. Then it shifts out to the fastest music of the whole disc with a driving, pounding piece of intensity.

Sail Away

There is almost a mainstream rock vibe to this, but it's decidedly heavier than that would suggest. The vocals also bring the metal to bear. 

Fearless
Coming in tentatively, this works out to a particularly dramatic grind. This gets heavier and meaner than anything else here, but also has an almost symphonic bombast to it.
Trust
 A bass arrangement brings this into being. As the cut powers out it seems to combine an almost prog rock element with a really heavy texture. The cut shifts to a thrashy, early Metalllica like riff to head into the song proper. When the vocals join the leaning changes again.
 
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