Infera Bruo – Desolate Unknown
It’s nice to go into a release with zero expectations and be surprised at the outcome enough to just let the music keep looping in an attempt to become familiar with it. Believe me folks… with the glut of new music boiling up from the interweb these days, this is a rare occurrence. Boston’s Infera Bruo is a band comprised of talented musicians culled from the punk and black metal genres out of bands that many of you have likely never heard of (The Girls, Cul De Sac, Bothildir, Shadar Logoth, Encrimson’d, Virulence, The Seventh Circle and others), but in Infera Bruo, they cast aside the past to embrace a violent and expertly crafted passage to the vibrant side of USBM.
Desolate Unknown immediately lays its cards on the table with a sharp production and a form of blackness that offers a nod of appreciation to the Scandinavian movement, yet Infera Bruo cultivate enough of their own identity in this music to keep the delivery enveloped in a very personal, though endlessly intense fire. The songs are rich with effective and sinister melody lines as found on the opening track Visions of the Inner Eye, but Infera Bruo inventively shift away from their rather focused and at times laid back stylistic and structural affinity for blackness the old and safe way (not a bad thing) on the deep and lengthy track Ritual Within. Electronic/experimental elements seep into the meat of this track, as does more tortured riffs where nasty chords writhe up from the strings to show the truly ugly and creative side of this band. The dissonance continues on Dust of Stars as Infera Bruo really hit their stride and open up the possibilities in their music with even more abysmal riff concepts, sung upon high with a searingly tight guitar tone and tempo shifts that range from the blasting mayhem you’d expect, to more crawling post rock drones that drag a mess of glorious treble behind them.
With most of the band contributing vocals to Desolate Unknown, an interesting variety is on display, with the main voice cutting through being stylistically very reminiscent of Ihsahn’s Black Wizard on fire delivery. This higher end register of screaming perfectly fits in sonically with the sizzle lurking at the core of Infera Bruo’s attack. Pitch singing and more of a chanted/yelled style also surface for a nice offering of depth on occasion, but never going too far to lose the core mission statement. Yet another well considered element that adds depth to what has become a very mature second album.
Infera Bruo have approached Desolate Unknown with great care and attention to detail. They start out in a storm of blazing swords to set their intentions on a course for the listener to feel and as the album has progressed, they then began to pervert the formula into something far more threatening than your typical blast addicted and brutal BM band from the US. Desolate Unknown is a grower which is a good thing, and it is key to really feel like your part of Infera Bruo’s sonic ritual. I was really drawn to the subtle twists in their sound and songwriting which they plant within a genre/style that resonates at a level I can usually become lost in when done correctly. Infera Bruo have gotten it right and I’m thrilled to hear where the madness will take them. This album is self released on CD and Bandcamp, so feel free to give it an uninterrupted spin to hear for yourself. -Marty
Worm Gear 
Really good production for a band at this “level”…the drums are in your face, cool…
Wow, I really like this. I was planning on just checking out some snippets of a couple songs, but ended up listening to the whole thing straight through. I was impressed enough I just ordered the CD. I enjoy the constant variation of guitar riffing styles and tempo changes. Dust of Stars is a great example how it starts out with a riff sounding like something influenced by Neurosis or Isis, then breaks into some more traditional BM blasting before falling back into mid-paced post rock riffing again. It all flows together effortlessly and does not sound contrived in anyway. As mentioned, the vocals are very Isahn-ish, which I really like. Even the clean singing reminds me of Anthems in some ways. I like how you just don’t know which way they will take each song next as you listen to the album.
Thanks Shawn for taking the time to read the review and taking that extra step to give the band a listen! I plan on picking up the disc as well in the next week or so.
Cool to see an independent band here. This is very interesting stuff. Gonna give this some time and soak in. Good review.