ARTIFICIAL BRAIN — Infrared Horizon (review)

ARTIFICIAL BRAIN — Infrared Horizon album cover

Album · 2017 · Technical Death Metal

4.5/5 · 2017-05-03
adg211288

I'm sure that each of us has a few genres that we can usually listen to something new from and take at least some level of enjoyment from it. For me it's black metal and power metal. I'm also sure that on the opposite side of that there's a few genres that we're very picky about. One of mine is death metal. Death metal is one of those genres where if an album hasn't grabbed me within a couple of tracks, I'll probably switch it off and find something else to listen to, unless I'm forcing myself to review it. I actually like death metal a lot, but this probably happens to me with eight, maybe even nine out of ten albums I try. I find that most albums come over as being very much 'heard it all before' (especially true of the old school types), or totally soulless and lacking any kind of substance (melodic death metal and brutal death metal especially). The one style that I have better luck with is technical death metal, which is as close as I get to a similar relationship as I have with black metal and power metal. But that only means I can listen to a whole album and enjoy it on some level. Finding that one album that really stands out, that's still a rare event.

For 2017, one such album is Infrared Horizon, the second full-length release by US technical death metal act Artificial Brain. These guys, who include in their line-up Revocation guitarist Dan Gargiulo, have previously released their debut album Labyrinth Constellation (2014), the EP Butchering Cosmic Giants (2013) and a 2011 demo, but this album is the first encounter I've had with their music. Funnily enough the album actually very nearly ended up on my figurative death metal discard pile for a reason I'll disclose in the next paragraph, but there was a spark in Artificial Brain's music that's kept me going with it. The kind where the next thing I know I've listened to Infrared Horizon several times and come away with a bit more appreciation for what Artificial Brain have created each time. To the point even where this album will be for the rest of the year the benchmark death metal album to beat.

The music on Infrared Horizon is semi-brutal technical death metal, with that added edge primarily coming in the form of the vocals by frontman Will Smith, which move into the pig squeal territory of brutal death metal every now and then. That's actually the one aspect I could do without regarding the album and is the reason it nearly ended up on my discard pile, but the more positive elements of Artificial Brain's sound have drawn me in to the point that I barely notice the pig squeals (which aren't as ridiculous as they could have been, to be completely fair with the band) any more. The more brutal death metal styled vocals do make some sections of the album a bit monotonous, but fortunately the growls are actually quite diverse on the album, with some being more decipherable and some done with a higher range.

The biggest draw for Infrared Horizon is the level of musicianship on the album. It's absolutely insane but doesn't come across as being too flashy either. I think that may be because the band couple their skills with an unpolished sound production, so they don't sound squeaky clean and clinical the way that some technical death metal can be. Of course there's nothing wrong with taking the polished approach to technical death metal so long as the musical integrity (A.K.A. Songs) is there, but the rawness to this one makes that technical precision come across with an intense savagery that even some of my personal favourite technical death metal albums couldn't hope to match. It's a sound where the playing of production and musicianship really hits the spot, despite some personal gripes with the vocals, which I acknowledged some listeners won't have any qualms about and as such there's a lot of potential for others to get into Infrared Horizon even quicker than I did.

The album does still have the issue that I've had with other death metal albums previously where the songs seem to blur together, though individual identity may become more apparent with further familiarity with the music. That's the real clincher with Infrared Horizon. Unlike other death metal albums of the ilk I've been referring to, it makes me want to continue to listen to it once this review is posted. For now though, the experience it offers as a whole is stunning, though something of a grower and I look forward to giving it more spins.