The grey cover and spidery logo can mean only one thing. This is a work of Black Metal. In fact it’s one man’s experience captured in the bleakest way. This is Infestus’s third album, and the sequel to the 2008 work “Chroniken des Ablebens” (Chronicles of Death) which was about the expansion of the moment of dying to the length of an album.
This work is the musical representation of innermost psychological torture. It’s not especially doomy and it’s not predominantly hard-hitting Black Metal that you may associate with Norway but an amalgam of the two. It’s a personalised account of “abysmal depths”. There’s a breadth and depth to the sound. It’s well-produced but not clinical. In fact in the style of true Black Metal “Down Spiral Depersonification” sounds as if it could have been recorded in someone’s kitchen. The sound resonates across the room. This has the useful effect of giving the impression that we’re inside the dark chasm of someone’s head. Within this framework guitars ring out nastily. Infestus cries out tortuously. With each change there’s a new mood of melancholy. Quiet and despair interchange with dark and captivating majesty. The 8 minute “Down Spiral Depersonification” ends with simple notes but you sense the ongoing agony. The Spanish guitar heralds in “Darkness Blazing in the Flame of Fire”. Ambiance turns quickly to hard-hitting emotional intensity. The depth comes from the multi-layered musical darkness. For all its utter desperation, it’s uplifting and even melodic. I didn’t even find it self-pity. It’s more about someone trying to break out of a deep state of psychosis. The winds blow meanwhile. Infestus continues to blast his way out of the torture on “Torn Observer” but doesn’t succeed. In fact one senses it gets worse. “Mirror Mind Reality” reflects deep despair. There’s a dark constancy in the roll of the drums and sinister guitar but there’s a further sense of inner turmoil and chaos as Infestus tries to break through the gloom. The guitar work is once again majestic and grim. Infestus speaks plaintively and clearly, lamenting about the world around him. The strength of the music outguns the isolated individual. It’s a musical feast. “Der Blick Hinaus” (The View Outwards) has the full range. The Spanish guitar has never sounded so sinister. A violent volley erupts. The guitars are sirening as the clouds darken. The drum signals menace. The impression is that we’re plumbing the depth and there’s nowhere to turn, as the guitar resonance becomes melancholic. “Descend Direction Void” is more urgent. The cries are still plaintive. To a harsh background, the soft guitar cuts in. It’s just bleak and mind-numbing. It then fades out as if into oblivion. So it ends.
This album can be looked at in a number of ways. It’s an album of personal torture yet in parts it is uplifting. This impression is fleeting as above all, homage is being paid here to everlasting darkness and nothingness through the diverse manifestation of mental decay and depravation. The fact that it is so many things is what makes it so interesting. “Ex I Ist” stands on its own. It’s not based on anything else. It is a harsh and committed work and a great example of the tormented mind portrayed via the medium of Black Metal.
http://www.infestus.com
http://www.debemur-morti.com
