Infinite & Divine are a melodic rock/metal band from Sweden founded in 2019 by musician/songwriter/producer Jan Akesson and vocalist Terese “Tezzi” Persson (Venus 5), releasing the band’s debut album ‘Silver Lining’ in 2021. A superb album of infectious rock and metal, the duo of Jan and Tezzi return with Infinite & Divine‘s sophomore album ‘Ascendancy’, released in 2023…
…building further the band’s reputation as one of Sweden’s latest rock/metal sensations! There’s a very long line of sensational bands to have emerged from the land of meatballs, Volvo, and IKEA – way too many to mention here! Crikey, I’d be ‘ere to the year three thousand if I did! Now I know I’m going to mention it at some point, I remember I did it a few times during my review of ‘Silver Lining’, so I’ll get it out of the way early – Tezzi is incredibly beautiful. And with a voice to match too! Her vocal performance on the band’s debut album had me spellbound and buckling at the knees, my heart pounding with excitement – I could easily listen and look at Tezzi for days (even months) on end and never tire! Am I in love? I just might be – and it’s Valentine’s Day today! Coincidence? I think not! But that’s enough personal stuff for the moment – there is an album to review, after all! An album that’s quickly into its stride with the heavy-hitting ‘Ashes To Ashes’, and oh my God, I’m distracted already – Tezzi’s sultry voice is simply perfection. Ahem, come on, Iron Mathew, you’re meant to be a professional! Erm, yes, but even professionals get distracted. And with something (the voice), or someone (Tezzi) so beautiful, can you blame me! Right, back to the music – ‘Ashes To Ashes’ is a barnstorming barrage of head bang-able and highly infectious metal-edged hard rock, appealing to fans of both rock and metal.
And the superb start to the album is maintained with the more melodic ‘LARP’ – just as energetic and sizzling hot as ‘Ashes To Ashes’. Maybe a tad more punchy, especially across the chorus break – crafted as a terrific sing a long for listeners, fans, followers and concertgoers. ‘LARP’ surely has to be a certain inclusion on the band’s setlist! It’s bouncy and buoyant and will definitely get a party started. A party that’s now in full swing, the band hitting hard and kicking harder! ‘Remedy’, running along the border between hard rock and heavy metal, moves the album up a gear, the infectious level to the next level, and the attraction higher than my attraction to Tezzi – if that’s possible! I wonder if she’s single! ‘Our Time’ brings the album in line with what melodic rock emphatically stands for – everything about the song is just perfect. The songwriting, the musicianship, the vocal performance, the singer, I could go on forever. But I won’t, ’cause if anyone asks me, “what do Infinite & Divine sound like” – I would simply play them ‘Our Time’. The band’s debut album nearly left me speechless, with their sophomore effort having the same effect! Especially with sassy tunes like ‘Leave Me’ giving me an eargasm of the most scintillating kind! The swagger, the swooning, and the swaying are simply outstanding, ‘Leave Me’ is nothing short of superb. And just for the record, the song’s title is a prophetic statement of something I would never do to you, Tezzi. Although with sixteen hundred miles between us, it’s a sentiment that’ll probably never be tested – it’s not as though we can pop to the local pub for a drink! The midpoint between us is in the North Sea, just off the Danish coast!
And with a buzzing barrage of electrifying energy, the band hit hard with the sultry ‘Silent Revolution’ – hitting like a jackhammer stuck on fast mode! There are also touches of the progressive, alternative, and industrial styles of rock and/or metal sewn into the fabric of ‘Silent Revolution’ too – Infinite & Divine is not afraid to stretch their musical abilities and explore new sounds and sights. And from where I’m sat in my lofty Metal Mansion – the sound and sight of the band are just fucking fabulous! Pulsating and pounding (just like my heart), the album strides on with the bold and majestic ‘I Hold My Life’, holding its head high with shoulders pushed back in a “look at me” kind of pose. And look, we will, for ‘I Hold My Life’ is as eye-catching as the lead singer and just as mesmerising too! The weight of the punchy nature of ‘Ascendancy’ has been incredible and would normally knock rockers and metalheads off their feet at eighty-eight miles an hour back to the future! But there are those diehards among us (like me) that can stand tall and withstand any barrage of savagery that is thrown at us! But with my knees buckling under the weight of attraction I feel for Tezzi, it isn’t going to be too long before I fall – and I mean fall down, not fall in love. That happened a long time ago – 2019, I believe, the year the band’s first album was released.
And don’t get me started on the prophetic statement the title of the next song makes – I think we all know where this is going – ‘Forever With Me’ fielding an eighties nostalgic feel for rock, the melodic rock of bands such as Heart, Vixen, and Robin Beck’s 1988 number one charting power ballad ‘First Time’ (a compelling love song that’s very appropriate right now). ‘Forever With Me’s sultry vocal performance overlaying a backdrop of emotion and reined-in energy is simply spellbinding, keeping me, you, and every other listener transfixed from the very first second to the last. And at three minutes fifty-two seconds, there’s err, um, two hundred and thirty-two seconds to enjoy! And whoa – where did that turn of speed come from? ‘Down’, the fastest song on the album, powering forth at a comfortably head bang-able pace, planting one foot firmly on the monitor, ala the classic gallop of metal legends Iron Maiden. What an exhilarating tempo and feel change – is there nothing this band can’t do!
Apparently not – soft rock filling the air as ‘Parasites’ comes to life, the song getting heavier as it gets going proper, featuring a classic NWOBHM buzz-sounding guitar riff! Infinite & Divine is primarily, I would say, a hard rock band with heavy metal leanings, rather than a heavy metal band with hard rock leanings – but it doesn’t really matter which way round it is when the music is this fucking good. ‘Ascendancy’ getting my vote for Album Of The Year – and if I could vote more than once, I would. I’m sure I can find a way, though…watch this space! And as the album heads for its final hurrah, I just want to say again what a beautiful woman Tezzi is – her looks and voice capturing my love forever. And Doro Pesch, you know you’re my first love, right! Ever since your Warlock days during the early eighties, and you’ll always be my metal queen, but Tezzi is my rock queen! And now for the album’s final song, ‘Small Deeds’ – a bustling barrage of fairly brash metal. Yes, metal – for ‘Small Deeds’ leans heavily on the metal side of the border with rock. Yet I will agree, there is an element of hard rock sewn into the fabric of ‘Small Deeds’, closing out the album with just as much energy and pizzazz as every other song on offer.
Overall, a sparkling album of highly melodic and magical metal and rock, ‘Ascendancy’ is simply amazing.
TRACKLIST
Ashes To Ashes
LARP
Remedy
Our Time
Leave Me
Silent Revolution
I Hold My Life
Forever With Me
Down
Parasites
Small Deeds
Infinite & Divine: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: Frontiers Music s.r.l.
Category: Album
Country: Sweden
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
