Infinite Universe Infinite Death

Like several recent bands I have discovered, the album art is what initially drew me in to check out this band, as well. I find myself a sucker for the cosmic stuff, especially if it is done well. And, ya know, this album art just hit all the right tones for me. So, here I am writing a review for this record!

First off, I find that this record and band image is a bit misleading. Once I started to dive into the music and read up on things, I began reading about comparisons to Emperor. Let's get it out of the way right now - this band is no Emperor. I mean no disrespect, but it is important to make this distinction. I would describe Journey Into Darkness's music as more symphonic death/black than symphonic black metal and Emperor was also a lot more technical [and much better song-writers]. All this is fine because JID still play some damn fine music in their niche and it is enjoyable in its own right. But, as they say, the devil is in the details.

For the production of the record, I would say that this is the weakest aspect of the album. But, it is not all bad. It certainly does remind me of old-school symphonic black metal and the sound they have achieved does happen to be pleasing to the ears. The drums are one of the weaker parts of the production, with the toms sounding much more processed than the rest of the kit. I also find the symbols and bass drums get smothered in the mix much of the time. Additionally, the symphonic elements are very loud in the mix, covering up a lot of "stuff". The bass guitar is pretty much inaudible for most of the album. Vox and guitar are fine, even if the guitar is a bit thin sounding for a modern album.

The musicianship is also an issue for me. I have two semi-gripes with the album. First, the guitars are not black metal sounding, but the symphonic elements are (guitars sound more like basic death metal). I can't blame JID as this issue plagues most of the symphonic black metal genre, but it still feels slightly forced on this record. The 2nd issue I have is that the symphonic elements basically follow along with the music and do not add much to the table. They also happen to sound the same throughout the entire album. This gives the album a bit of a monotone quality to the songs that has the potential to ruin the entire album. Fortunately, the charm of the actual songs uplift the album above these issues and make it an enjoyable album, where normally these sins would ruin an entire album.

This brings me to the one strength that, perhaps, saves this album from mediocrity and that is the song-writing. While the album is not quite catchy in nature, these songs still have a charm to them and are pleasant to revisit. Perhaps, not all the songs are like this, but certainly a few are very re-listen worthy. This is particularly the case for me for the songs at the beginning of the record - especially, the opening track. JID have done a good job creating some good songs despite the technical issues with the album and this gives me a lot of promise for this band.

Overall, I think this is a decent, albeit, niche album that symphonic death/black fans will eat up (like me) and others will skip. If you enjoy this style, then nab it up and give it a spin. Otherwise, you will probably want to skip this one, although you may enjoy the dark, cosmic instrumentals. This record does have some charm and for that I can still say it is a good album worthy of ownership. The future of this band could be very bright if they continue to develop and cultivate this cosmic sound.