Faust – From Glory to Infinity
When it comes to thinking about death metal bands and geography, Italy is one of those countries that really haven’t produced any bands that instantly spring to mind as being something noteworthy. I’m sure there are some over the years that have planted their flag firmly in the genre, but it seems the countries appreciation for romanticism is far more rooted in doom, or black metal tendencies. Italy’s Faust seemingly benefit from their countries low-key approach to death metal, for this band has erupted from a long, though not very productive history with “From Glory to Infinity”… a rather unique sounding album of teched out, though very memorable death. This band formed in 1993, released a demo, then an EP in 2001, only for this full-length to be unveiled by Paragon Records. Not the most prolific bunch of musicians, but this is mainly due to main man Aleister ‘s involvement with Norway’s Ancient over the years. From Glory to Infinity” skillfully mixes melodious harmonies and classical interludes as found on the impressive “Sentimental Worship”, with teched out brutality that never loses sight of hook oriented verse and chorus work. A sleeker, more tuneful Morbid Angel comes to mind when stretching to find a point of comparison for Faust. Adding Steve DiGiorgio to the line-up in the studio (maybe even live…. Hard to say how deep his involvement runs) compounds the stylish complexity found on this album, for his ever mind blowing bass work cuts through the mix of this CD like a knife, finding his sound to be a little more clean, even percussive sounding to accomidate the precise performance of fellow studio musician Darek “Daray” Brzozowski from Dimmu Borgir and Sunwheel fame. It’s a nice contrast up against the warm guitar tone, not to mention the deep, though very unique guttural moaning style of guitarist Aleister. All the tracks possess a warm flow where nothing sounds out of place or awkward, just 1 full album worth of well considered death metal that embraces the old school of the genre, but feeling more at home stylistically alongside bands like Death and the aforementioned Morbid Angel. Very enjoyable. –Marty
Paragon Records
Worm Gear 