Inferi - The Path of Apotheosis
I was initially interested in checking out this band because I’ve never heard anything that is both Technical and Melodic Death Metal before. Technical Death Metal bands are rarely melodic in any sense of the word. Inferi might have been more melodic on their earlier releases, but the technical aspects of their sound are edging out any remaining bits of that. These guys have essentially come down with a serious (and eventually fatal) case of wankerdom. The riffing on The Path of Apotheosis is mostly an exercise in hyper-technical playing interspersed with occasional melodic parts. When they have a melody going, regardless of how complex it is, it’s the highlight of the song. Take, for example, the opening part of “Prelude to a Perilous Fate” - maybe the first thirty to forty seconds of it. The playing on that segment is melodic and interesting. It then turns into a hyper-technical whirlwind of overly complicated and unmelodious riffing, blasting drums and growling vocals. The melodic stuff makes a brief reappearance before the blasting drums and hyper-technical guitar playing reassert themselves. A guitar solo near the end of the song brings some melody back in, but even that is fleeting. This is pretty much how all of the songs on The Path of Apotheosis are. It’s Death Metal with an identity crisis. On one hand, Inferi wants to be Technical Death Metal. They want to wank off with their guitars and play music for the subset of Death Metal fans that desire to hear a Death Metal version of Dream Theater. On the other hand, they also want to be Melodic Death Metal and have atmospheric bits and soulful guitar solos. The two identities don’t coexist very well here, and the music veers sharply between overly-technical and atmospheric Death Metal like a schizophrenic homeless guy trying to figure out if he’s Jesus or Satan. Listening to this album isn’t easy. There are parts that seriously kick ass, but they’re sandwiched between moments that are so needlessly complex that melodies and atmosphere disintegrate immediately. The guys in Inferi need to make a choice between melodic and technical styles because trying to be both just isn’t working very well.
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