I have never heard of this band before doing this review, and I am always curious about reviewing artists I don’t know. This album really is a tale of 2 different sides, though, a divided album where the 1st half is very different in style, mood and tone from the 2nd half. In general, The Infinity Ring can be described as a Gothic Industrial Metal band, with a lot of other influences like spoken word, shoegaze and even folk. As intriguing as this may sound, I was divided quite like the album itself. I thoroughly loved the 1st half, while the 2nd half didn’t do much for me.
The album starts with “Crown of Stars”, a nice violin-led track where the deep vocals of the singer are introduced. The clean guitar gives it a nice atmosphere and congregation-like chants in the 2nd half make it even more intriguing, but it fails to deliver a truly climactic moment, turning it more into a 5-and-a-half-minute-long intro to the album. Next is “Temptress”, with its extremely Leonard Cohen-like vocals, very dark mood and really nice use of clean guitars and subtle keyboard backdrops. The spoken word quality of it makes it very cool and enigmatic and more of a complete song than the previous one. “The Valley” is next. A slow and heavy dragging rhythm perfectly connects this song with the previous one. This song brings even more layers to build the thick atmosphere. A lot of post-rock and shoegazing influences. Awesome track. “Tiferet II” is a slower and quieter track, with a strong emphasis on clean guitars and subtle tremolo leads. This one blends perfectly with their style but is not as memorable as the previous 2 songs. The comeback of the violin from the intro track is a very nice and subtle detail, though. “Pan & Syrinx” is a beautiful and relaxing interlude song that treats us to the soothing sounds of steel drums and birds on the background. Not much else, but it works in the context of the album and is a nice and welcome change. To bring things up again, next up is “Gift of Life”, an alliterative song that pulls itself together nicely, making it more of a spoken word piece with some nice and dark melodies on the back. A lot of Anathema vibes in this one and an awesome crescendo that finishes on a chaotic and noisy climax makes it one of the standout tracks of the album.
Now, the 2nd half of the album is where it takes a 180-degree shift and becomes a totally different animal. One that I don’t think I like nearly as much as the 1st half. “Orpheus Dragonfly Satyr” works almost as an intro of sorts for this side B. It is a very weirdly atmospheric track, with sounds of what seems to be tribal percussions and some horns with a droning note on the background. I guess it works to set a mood, but it didn’t work for me. Next up is “Lazarus Millennium Sun” a heavy, heavy, heavy song with a very deep and monotone voice to break the relative calm that the previous track brought. Very intense and poignant, and totally contrasting with the rest of the album. “Wax & Oil” keeps going on the same energy as the previous song. It is a song that is just as intense and heavy but with more structure. This one has more layers to it, and it is a welcome change. Still not as good as the songs in the first half, but a decent track. “Prison, Constraint” is next, and we are back to the chaos that feels more like a misstep. A very heavy and intense noise-led track again, but this time we are treated to soundbites and recordings of a female voice instead of the band’s male vocalist. Fortunately, the album manages to release all the punches it pulled in the 2nd half for the closing track of the same name of the album. “Nemesis & Nativity” is a much-needed return to the first half of the album. A great song that brings a bit of every aspect of the other previous songs and closes the album in style. Longer and more epic than the rest it is probably my favourite song in the album.
Production-wise, the album is very decent. It has some of the tricks and bits you would expect from a band that is very focused on atmosphere and setting up moods. Tons of reverb and an overall “dreamy” layer cover the whole album, but it feels really adequate to the band’s sound. In conclusion, I believe this band has a lot of potentials, but the whole 2 different styles thing was a bit odd, in my opinion. That first half has really interesting experiments and influences, but the 2nd half just felt too chaotic for me. A decent album worth, nevertheless.
Album highlights: Temptress, The Valley, Gift of Life, Nemesis & Nativity
For fans of: Tiamat, Leonard Cohen, Batushka, King 810
The Infinity Ring: Instagram
Release Year: 2023
Label: Profound Lore Records
Category: Album
Country: USA
Reviewed by Roman Ibarra
