Omniabsence Filled By His Greatness
(Agonia Records)
46:34min
2013 continues to surprise with late-in-the-year killer albums, and this 6th record from Czech Republic Black Metallers INFERNO is no exception! I admittedly have been a harsh critic of Black Metal in the past few years. There’s too many cases of ’empty-suit syndrome’, that is, bands that ‘have the look’ and can play great, but lack darkness and ‘magic’ in their music. Black Metal has just cannibalized itself so many times – become so inbred – that the bulk of albums today sound interchangeable with each other. True, INFERNO are working in the oft-tread ‘orthodox’ Black Metal archetype, but on this record, they miraculously pull it off, in an otherwise bankrupt genre. The strengths of "Omniabsence Filled By His Greatness" are many: professional musicianship (hail to the drummer for tireless speed!), world-class heavy production, and most importantly for Black Metal; that rare sense of mysticism and dread. Another sign of a great album in any style, in my opinion, is the quality of finding some new layer you hadn’t heard in prior listens. This album has that carefully-crafted nature (for example, witness the sadistic ‘centipedes-crawling-into-your-ears’ guitar part, starting at 4:56 in the song ‘The Funeral of Existence’). Finally, once again, some passion and dedication is put into a Black Metal album! If you have listened to INFERNO before and thought ‘meh’, let me encourage you to try this band again, as this is their pinnacle. Outstanding. More info at: www.facebook.com/pages/inferno/322975231147644, www.agoniarecords.com
Dick Osmond
• INFERNO - Uctivani Temne Zurivosti (Andi Bauer)