Artificial Brain - Infrared Horizon album review
Artificial Brain - Infrared Horizon album review
Band: Artificial Brain
Genre: Death metal
Album: Infrared Horizon
Release date: Date: April 21st 2017
Record Label: Profound Lore Records
When speaking about dissonant death metal, Artificial Brain is one of these bands that must not slip under your radar. Even though they’re still a pretty young band they really have something to say with every release. This time, they bring forth their second album, Infrared Horizon which will officially be released on April 21. via Profound Lore Records. The moment you hear the first notes of the album opener, Floating in Delirium, you’ll realize that these guys aren’t for everyone’s ears. Dissonance will either get you mad about the whole thing or you’ll just go through record thinking like WTF.
Anyways, the first song on the record starts off with pretty dissonant stuff and then as the time goes on it becomes more and more melodic with a minimalistic solo in the background. However, these frequent musical deviations are tied together with Will’s guttural vocals.And yes, black metal chords are in the game as well. Synthesized Instinct is even more noisy and dissonant, believe it or not. Dual vocal attack really gives this song (and the whole record) a big dose of refreshment, which would be crucial for those who dislike guttural vocals. Progressive influences can also heard in Synthesized Instinct. Space-like chord breakdown in the middle of the song jointed with death metal madness that follows show that Artificial Brain guys are really ahead of the game in terms of song arrangements. Static Shattering starts with a chaotic black metal riff and then transcends into a more straight-forward groovy guitar attack. „Cacophonic melodies” definitely fits perfectly with screeching noise that comes out of guitar soon after. Enstranged from Orbit gives a bit of relaxation for the listener’s ears with an atmospheric opening riff that comes out of nowhere. Yet, guttural vocals are about to announce what will happen next. As expected, everything gets pumped up and all a sudden the song enters this melodic part that is definitely one of the peak performances on this record. The riffs that follow are kickass too. All of a sudden, the music fades out and then explodes again with these amazing chords that bring this song to an end. First 10 seconds into Infrared Horizon definitely reminds of Dysrhythmia as an influence. And then this tune bursts into dissonant death metal madness. Stuff like that will surely make your jaw drop. These vocal shifts are really an awesome way to break the monotonous feel this record would have if it was „sung“ in one tone till the end.Guitar solo and breakdown that follow are joined perfectly. Anchored to the Inlayed Arc starts with one of the best Nazgul sounding screams I’ve ever heard! Overall madness is intensified by the wickedness of guitar parts and amazing drumming as well. Again, the band puts melodic parts in between. Mist like Mercury is probably the mathiest song on the record guitar-wise (for 30 seconds at least). And then all of the sudden band enters the state of feeding frenzy. The minipause these guys make sounds as if they hit something with a sledge hammer. Calmer part of the song reminds me of Gorguts’ Absconders/Reduced to Ash, probably because of the sound effect that kicks in. Bloody death metal mess is interupted by some mathy riffs again. Vacant Explorer is opened by these kick ass chords topped by furious blast beat attack. The song itself is like a rollercoaster on a melodic, dissonant and ambiental path to ruin. The death metal riffs will probably jam your brain a bit. But one of the greatest moments on this record for sure is the Nazgul-like scream combined with a kickass riff. Holy shit! These guys really know how to get thing interesting, especially with guitar effects that are put in here and there. Graveyard of Lightless Planets is molested by Will’s Demilich-esque vocals. And the clarity of the opening chord is disrupted when the death metal riff kicks in. I must say that Artificial Brain’s guitarists managed to do something really wicked when combining melodies and dissonance. It’s like their music is some sort of conjoined twin! The last song on the record, Ash Eclipse is a more straight forward one, with crushing noisy parts that will boost your adrenaline! The album cover and the overall lyrics seem to be like Judas Priest’s Machines are taking all over but on steroids! It is also good to mention that the mixing of this album was done by no one else than the legendary producer Colin Marston. You would need 5 seconds to realize that he is behind this beastly work of art!
Artificial Brain’s Infrared Horison is a perfect balance between the wickedness of dissonance and cacophony on the one side and melody and clarity on the other. Every fan of dissonant death metal needs to hear this stuff! This album will get your heart pumped and penis erect (unless you’re some slimy “nu metal meets glam“ kind of guy.
Rating: 9/10
