Crematory

Infinity

Written by: PP on 18/01/2010 17:29:26

Finally! Here's the beacon of hope I've been endlessly looking for in German gothic metal. Crematory's 11th studio album "Infinity" is simply one of the best gothic metal albums I've ever come across, precisely because it doesn't sound anything like their boring, cliché-ridden genre colleagues that number in their hundreds. They're a different kind of gothic metal band, employing a much heavier, more dramatic sound whilst integrating easily-accessible pop melodies and really catchy choruses to the mixture as well. There are even sections where Crematory lapse into melodeath territory to an extent that I'm willing to throw out to the open a bold statement: if Dark Tranquillity played gothic metal, Crematory's "Infinity" is exactly how they'd sound like. Is this how gothic melodeath sounds like?

A large variety of vocal styles are on offer ranging from deep murmured growls to male falsetto vocals and normal-but-melancholic clean singing. I want to highlight Felix's growls in particular, because they are completely decipherable while being some of the deepest I've heard, showcasing the immense technical ability this guy owns. The clean vocals are sung with melancholic emotion and conviction similar to Sinamore, offering a great contrast to the growling, a big part of the reason why this record is so interesting. Kind of like the vocal dynamic used by Lacrimas Profundere, but with even more focus placed on it.

The catchiest songs on the record are opening track "Infinity", "Out Of Mind" with its memorable pop chorus, the aggressive thrash metal piece "Where Are You Now" which has a slight black metal symphony on the background, and the industrially toned "A Story About..." with its super-dramatic melodic chorus of "is this a story about your life? Or is this a story about space and time". There's also a Depeche Mode cover on the record, "Black Celebration", which is a gothic melodeath rendition of the original track that I feel is actually better than the original because of the dark undertones of Crematory's vocalist. Fuck "The Black Parade", "Black Celebration" is where death parades and triumphs unequivocally in comparison. Anyway, to sum up, "Infinity" is a special gothic metal album because it's so different from its peers. It has cross-genre appeal and even a few radio-friendly passages as well, making it an album that I'll be comparing many releases against in the years to come.

8

Download: A Story About..., Out Of Mind, Infinity
For the fans of: Lacrimas Profundere, Sinamore
Listen: Myspace

Release date 29.01.2010
Massacre Records

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