For all the chaos that has crawled over this earth the past decade and all the anxiety and pressure so many of us have felt, it’s crucial to have a vessel for simply disappearing into the void and traveling to planes beyond your own. OK, I know you can’t do that physically as of yet, but there are escapes out there, and it’s a matter of finding what works for you.
One potential avenue comes in the form of “Paradeigma (Phosphenes of Aphotic Eternity),” the latest chapter from Czech black metal ghouls Inferno, yet another document from this band that makes you question reality. It also might help reconfigure the possibilities black metal holds as the band—vocalist Adramelech, guitarist/bassist/sound manipulator Ska-Gul, guitarist Morion, drummer Sheafraidh (Hekte Zaren also provides vocals)—takes a deep jumping off point on this, their eighth full-length effort, as they deliver soundscapes and strange journeys all while they apply coats of intergalactic black metal that will make you feel like you’re locked in a strange dream for 36 minutes.
“Decaying Virtualities Yearn for Asymptopia” is an intro track that’s instrumental, built with a hazy atmosphere and strange keys, and that swims into “The Wailing Horizon” that blasts its way open. Adramelech’s vocals acts like a ghoul in the bloodstream as the track blasts and punches through, and a cloudy fury sits overhead. A weird dream state settles in, a scary sound cloud grows and smothers, and the playing revolts, leaving you wondering where the hell you are. “Descent Into Hell of the Future” enters into trippy strangeness before the fists begin to fly, and a haunting haze gets into your mind. Beastly alien vocals chew through you before they get uglier and meaner, sending chills down your spine. The drums rumble as your spirit freezes, and then the playing ignites, the growls bubble, and everything is sucked into deep outer space.
“Phosphenes” starts with guitars opening and strange, terrifying auras settling overhead. The drums kick through the door as the stratosphere fills with fire, and eerie sounds enter hell’s front gates. Cosmic storming picks up, sending strange vibes through the universe, the drums echo, and your blood freezes in your veins. “Ekstasis of the Continuum” brings rumbling keys, kinetic drumming, and hazy chaos that does battle with the machines swinging. A dizzying synth cloud pushes in, voices call out, and a miasma of terror swirls as the track blasts out. “Stars Within and Stars Without Projected Into the Matrix of Time” ends the record, a clobbering piece that starts with drums caving in your chest and the whole thing coming alive. The guitars open and drizzle insane melodies, and battle roars pummel, pushing things into a nightmarish void. Daring energy blasts through cracks, a huge deluge of sound emerges, and cold blasts head into the stars, letting things fester and rot in the depths of the universe.
The horrors that strike and destroy through the entire body of “Paradeigma (Phosphenes of Aphotic Eternity)” are impossible to explain to someone, hard as I tried above to give you an idea of what Inferno packed into this horrifying package. It’s true the terrors we know here exist elsewhere, and Inferno spend the entire run of this nearly 36-minute adventure exposing them. It’s an experience that is purely unique to them, and every trip through this chaos changes every single part of you.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/InfernoCZBM/
To buy the album (North America), go here: https://debemurmorti.aisamerch.com/
Or here (Europe): https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/12-eshop
For more on the label, go here: https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/
Meat Mead Metal 