From Croatia comes this new Death Metal band that released their debut album at the beginning of this month. ‘Infra’ might be the first album for these five musicians released with this band, none of them are new to the metal genre, but none of the band members’ other (and sometimes former) bands are very well known. Or, let’s keep it close to myself, I personally didn’t know any of the other band names, even though there are thirty of them in all.
But that this quintet are veterans is not only evident from the band photo (these are no early twentysomethings, but hey, what else would you expect with this band name?), it is especially easy to hear. ‘Infra’ sounds solid, both in terms of musicianship and sound. The Old School Death Metal feels authentic, with the tempo being mostly in the mid-tempo regions, riff-heavy and with a minimum of melody or other musical frills. Perhaps it’s all not very uplifting or enervating, but it’s very solidly executed and it still remains engaging for the full playing time of around 40 minutes. All in all it sounds a bit like a slower Malevolent Creation and Vomitory, but above all it has a distinct Benediction feel to it – but, fair is fair, Metuzalem do have the sound with them that certainly sounds a lot rawer and rougher, but especially a bit slower. In this way, Croats have managed to create something of their own sound within the so narrow confines of Old School Death Metal after all.
While this particular Death Metal scene, that one of the Old School brand, is currently being flooded by quite a lot of rather bland sounding bands, all with the aim to sound at least a little Swedish or a little like Asphyx – hell, even Asphyx hasn’t sounded like Asphyx for many years, it is quite refreshing to hear a band that does not remotely sound Swedish or like Asphyx. So, if you’ve been on a rampage looking for an Old School Death Metal band that sounds both recognizable and refreshing, then go for it.
