INFERNAEON

Finally a new release from INFERNAEON, the Florida band that offered a fresh take on the Tampa sound with their 2007 debut "A Symphony of Suffering". Well, more like a reinvention since the sound of the album was symphonic death/black metal (more death than black at the time) and succeeded in distancing them from the herd. Apparently, it took a while because the making of "Genesis to Nemesis" was akin to a long and difficult birth without an epidural. It was worth the wait.

"Genesis to Nemesis" is a logical extension of "A Symphony of Suffering", and more. The arrangements are more complex, the symphonic aspects much more integral to the sound this time, and the overall approach feels cohesive and confident, as though INFERNAEON has found its place in the world of extreme metal and is reveling in it. "Genesis to Nemesis" is also one of those albums where the death/black descriptor actually makes sense when you listen to it. The symphonic aspects, which are well written and melodically memorable, as well as Brian Werner's periodic shifts from growl to shriek, constitute much of the "black." And even though there is more of a death metal bent in the structures, the band both rides the line and offers something a bit different. Much of that distinctiveness comes from the inventiveness of the riffs and jarring franticness of the delivery. You won't see "technical" thrown about in reviews nearly as much as "symphonic," but make no mistake, "Genesis to Nemesis" is filled with some serious musicianship that surely resulted in many hours of burning forearms and frustrated outbursts over the nonlinear compositional pathways.

In telling the story of the Bible in historically accurate terms, rather than from the words of Christian propagandists (read Werner's press statements about it),"Genesis to Nemesis" is one jarring journey that shatters convention as convincingly as it frays nerves from the manic rhythms and breakneck changeups. I mean terms like "furious" barely do justice to a collection of songs with so many angular riffs and stop-on-a-dime pace shifts that you'll need a valium just to calm down afterwards. While the songwriting is built with chorus melody in mind, relatively speaking of course ("First of the Fallen", "Lilith Satanas", "Ziasudra" with its NILE shades are good examples),it is on a track like "Legacy of Kane" where you'll be shocked at the constancy of tempo change and a perpetual feeling one might get just before a car is about to speed off a cliff and burst into flame upon hitting the ground. Yeah, like I said, "frantic!" All the pieces somehow fit though and I can't say enough about the care that went into writing keyboard lines that chill to the bone and burn in the brain. And let's not forget the cover of METALLICA's "Creeping Death", which not only fits magnificently into the larger musical framework, but the lyrical one as well. The tune features lead vocals from none other than GWAR's Oderus Urungus who along with Erik Rutan, Bill Hudson (ex-CELLADOR),and John Slaughter (COLDERA) leads a star-studded guest musician cast.

The only part of "Genesis to Nemesis" with which I could find fault is in some of the vocal patterns, notably on "Immaculate Deception" and "Revelations". The patterns are just plain awkward in places and some of the lyrics rather pedestrian, at least in the context of the conveyance of an epic story. Those critiques aside, "Genesis to Nemesis" is a beastly extreme metal album that is at no risk of getting lost in the crowded death and black metal shuffle. You'd be hard pressed to hear another album this year that sounds like it.