Infinity – Non De Hac Terra
It has been since 2004 that I last heard, or even pondered the existence of Holland’s Infinity. With their 2nd album, “The Birth of Death” being hopelessly lost and neglected in my CD collection, my fuzzy memory recalls slightly melodic black metal trying to claw its way out of the “Cult” category into something more substantial.
Having now spent some uninterrupted time with Non De Hac Terra, it seems that through the course of 5 full-length albums, this well versed in the black arts power trio has indeed “figured it out” and created something that just might flourish with the correct push behind it. Though not as much of a stylistic derivative as the excellent, though tribute styled German band Thulcandra, Infinity’s music is steeped in the mythical lore of Dissection worship. The furious pace along with moments of rhythmic and riff technicality allows elements of Absu to offset the Nodtveidt-isms haunting their song writing. I must make it clear, that Dissection was such an amazing and special entity to me (sans Reinkaos… never clicked with me) as Jon’s musical vision was so advanced and touched with excellence due in a large part to his gift for writing those soaring harmonies, that if a newer band gleans off some of that unholy fire and can do it justice, I’m not going to complain about the stylistic similarities and yes, lack of originality. A good song is paramount and Non De Hac Terra is full of them. With a crisp and cold production at the helm, the tight sound allows bewitching harmonies to rise like incense smoke into the night sky to bond with the mist of the moon. Melody is the great motivator on this album, for the abundance of it fills each track with unshakable hooks allowing the razor sharp mid-ranged vocals to possess with their icy screams. The music effortlessly embraces the black, melodic death and evil thrash metal genres skillfully by taking them all in and redirecting the attack into very natural flowing song structures and varying emotions that exhale agonized blast beat winds one moment, to fuel more punchy thrash beats the next to keep the dynamics interesting and off centered.
Perhaps the final act of wearing their influences on their sleeve is found in the blue tinted and excellent cover art provided by Necrolord (Dissection/Emperor artist), but don’t let this dissuade you. Non De Hac Terra is a powerful and well conceived album sure to enchant those of you, like me, that placed so much worth and trust on the middle era melodic death/black era of the Sweden’s geographical metal movement. This one’s a scorcher that effortlessly reanimates the past to rise again and be a vital attack in 2013. -Marty
New Era Productions/Hammerheart Records
Worm Gear 