Nashville Tennessee’s Inferi have become quite the force in U.S underground Melodic Death Metal.  I was turned on to this group back in 2014 when I was recommended their album, The Path of Apotheosis.  At the time I felt like Inferi were quite far ahead of other similar melodic death groups in terms of technique and song arrangement.  Fast Forward to 2018 and we have Inferi’s fourth full length record Revenant. My first impressions of Revenant are that #1:  The Cover Artwork is meticulously well done.  I enjoy death metal cover art where you can get lost looking at all of the detail within it.  #2 Impression of Revenant is that Inferi have been able to grow and mature as songwriters while at the same time manage some pretty significant lineup changes within the group.  One of the biggest being the change in the vocals department going with Sam Schneider who replaced former vocalist Josh Harrell.  The other big change in the lineup with be Joel Schwallier replacing Nevin O’Hearn on bass.

Clocking in at nearly an hour, Revenant is one of those albums that does take a bit of patience to get in to.  The song arrangements vary from nearly six to nine minutes in length throughout the album. Opening up with “Within the Dead Horizon” the vocal change is noticeable right away.  Schneider has more of a Dani Filth-ish (Cradle of Filth) like cadence to his high end vox versus the former vocalist who had a bit more Trevor Strnad (Black Dahlia Murder) influence to his voice. This is a bit ironic as Strnad does guest vox on the last track, “Behold the Bearer of Light”.

Each track on Revenant is quite unique to itself.  There is enough variation going on throughout to warrant a longer death metal record but I just wonder if these arrangements need to be as long as they are.  That is just this writer playing devil’s advocate as the song arrangements on the last record were around the same length.  Inferi like to give you great value for your buck when it comes to what you get within each track on Revenant. Other strong tracks on Revenant would be “A Beckoning Thrall”, “Thy Menacing Gaze”, and “Malevolent Sanction”.

It’s already been a busy year for technical melodic death metal with releases from groups like Rivers of Nihil, Alterbeast, Augury, and Unflesh producing some unbelievably flashy chops and Song arrangements.  You can add Inferi’s name to the mix.  Of all of the groups mentioned Inferi’s contributions may be the most mature and streamlined.  This isn’t as flashy as The Path of Apatheosis but it definitely is an album where you can tell that the group are growing into their sound while trying to manage the challenge of switching members of the group.  This record takes a few spins to get into due to the volume of length and intricacies of each track.  This is definitely something I would recommend for fans of Black Dahlia Murder, Arsis and even Revocation at times. If you are not feeling this particular record please checking out their previous effort.  These guys are one of the strongest acts in the U.S that play this particular style.  Take it for what it is worth.

Some may have this their best of 2018 list.  It’s definitely a strong record. Maybe not my favorite from them but definitely a huge step for the group in terms of maturing in the studio and as songwriters. Give it a spin and see if it tickles your death metal ears.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments