Chroniken des Ablebens

This album was pretty good. It was fast paced, but not too fast. The drumming was strong and held its own, the guitar work was fast and methodical, and the bass was actually quite prominent on a few of the tracks and flowed really well with the guitars. The vocals weren't very raspy, but more high-screams mixed with low-growls, which I found enthralling.

It sounded quite typical of black metal, but not necessarily generic. Infestus retains their own sound, but are obviously influenced by bands like Burzum, Emperor, or Blut Aus Nord. The sound Infestus creates is a powerful one that can generate a variety of emotions. The entire album has an aura of depression and crushing sadness about it.

The atmosphere itself isn't perhaps as well put together or thought out like Mayhem's, but it held a certain mood of doom and destruction. The album art looks as the album itself sounds; deep and dark. The beginning of the album is somewhat melodic and almost groovy at times, which is impressively incorporated into the sad mood. The album then fades into a dreary and sinister vibe. This dreariness is especially heard on Willinglessly Anticipating Death, a personal favorite of mine.

This album is fast paced throughout, but it leaves you a few places to catch your breath in eerie intros and outros. The final song, Ready to Leave, defies their initial brutality and is a simple, slow instrumental that leaves a hole in your heart. It captures the essence of depression that this album conceives so perfectly.

It's quite impressive that all the instrumentals are provided by a single man, Andras, as they flow well together and produce such an atmosphere. The vocals are performed by Dagon and I like them a considerable amount. They're not particularly raspy and don't have that annoying echo to them that so many black metal vocals do.

It's a good album overall and I would recommend it to those who enjoy the smaller black metal bands.