Infestum: Monuments of Exhalted

I think an industrial band who gets heavier  might work better than a black metal band who adds the synth effects as an after thought and to be honest I haven't listened to this album enough to for a hypothesis in this regard. These guys have been on my shuffle radar for a  week or two and have popped up in the rotation three or fours times. I do know that to say these guys are black metal, refers to a Dimmu or Behemoth version of black metal so Industrial Blackened Symphonic metal perhaps.The strength of this becomes the fact they try to write real songs rather than throw a bunch of blasting riffs in your face.

This is the third full length this band has released since their inception 14 years ago. I can't imagine they have much competition in Belarus, but this also could mean when their line up has changed finding suitable replacements has taken longer as well. Their influences seem to be more metal than industrial. The Venom cover reaffirms this. In fact the more I looked into this band it seems the evolution of there sound started with them as more of a pagan metal band that blackened up and not have taken the industrial turn.

The one thing leaning them more closely to the black metal ledger is the cold dissonance they let the chords ring out with.This is especially effective in "Temple of Mirrors". The riff is staggered and the sprawling rasp of these really well produced vocals drips of of the guitars. The industrial elements just got the icing on the cake here. There is a slight Skinny Puppy wink to some of the more sung vocals on the song "Ordo Infestum".

I can hear some of the more pagan elements on "Iron Hammer Upon the Skull of  Slave". It rips into the more thrashing Behemoth vibe soon after."Zero Beyond" blasts by slightly like a Pysclon Nine song in it's best moments. The keyboards in the back ground add to the overall sound , but the barrage is pretty much a blur. The groove to "Obsidian Exile" is much more memorable. It churns in a manner like some of Immortals more melodic moments before taking off into a rapid flurry.

In the album third act more galloping blasts come out you . They are sometimes book-ended by catchy sections of punching riffs like those in "Renaissance". At others they are asked to hold the songs together by sheer virtue of their speed and viciousness.The title track is a strong number for this album to end on. it makes better use of the synths than they have been implemented through out the bulk of the album. the lower chanted vocal line is pretty creepy and add a different sense of dynamics and feeling to the song.

I like where these guys have gone with this over all. The album is not perfect as the need for speed many bands of this ilk fall into makes thing muddy in the songwriting department. I like where these guys are going with this and there are enough great songs to round this up to an 8.