Symphonics/orchestration and brutal death metal aren’t uncommon bedfellows, but it isn’t exactly a thriving, saturated genre, due to the obvious dichotomy the two style provide. Fleshgod Apocalypse certainly elevated it to critical acclaim and mastered the sound but before that the likes of arguable trendsetters Nocturnus as well as, Agiel, Scrambled Defuncts, Ovid’s Withering and a few others have also been flirting around the curious melding.

Enter Irreversible Mechanism, from Minsk, Belarus and their fine debut Infinite Fields, originally self released but picked up for larger distribution by Finland’s Blood Music. Of interest to US metal fans is the fact that Lyle Cooper, who drummed on the last two The Faceless albums, is the session drummer here giving the duo of Yaroslav Korotkin (bass/vocals), and Vladislav Nekrash (guitars) a little international credibility, but based on their skill and delivery outside of the drums, I’m not sure they needed it.

The backbone is a pretty standard, modern, clinical, widdly, tech death swarm of time changes, stuttering riffs and shrill solos ala Gorod, Obscura etc, and it in itself is pretty well done. But then you throw in full on orchestration and keys- not quite as theatrical or cinematic as Fleshgod Apocalypse, and maybe more sci fi/Nocturnus based (I get a little sense of Pestilence Spheres/Testimony of the Ancients here and there too) and you have an impressive debut from an impressive band.

None of the polished, confident, well played songs completely jump out at you or are commandingly memorable, as if often the downfall of tech death. But if you want deft musicianship and a mechanical sense of precise, brutality sheathed in some Dimmu  Borgir-ish (“Incipience”, “The Betrayer of Time”), spacey, orchestrated splendor, then Infinite Fields will serve you well.  From “Into the Void” through”Outburst” and the more fierce “The Agony”,  to the more controlled closer “Cold Winds”, careen and swirl with cosmic solos abound, shrill blast beats and some stuttering matches and ethereal majesty once in a while to let the keys breathe and swathe you in cosmic light and or/ the glow of a army of robots.

On the negative side, along with the innate genre issues, the album is a but sterile (but certainly fitting the band’s mileau), with a dry production and monotone deep growls and screams and none of the racks really peak or command your attention. For example, “Fragile” just really wants to explode like a nova amid its solos and epic keys, it sits on the edge, but never peaks or takes that final leap into something more special. Still though a very promising debut and entry into the genre from ma young duo that can only get better.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments