Inferno are a black metal band from the Czech Republic and this is their eighth album.
I always enjoy a new encounter with the work from Inferno. Both 2013’s Omniabsence Filled by His Greatness and 2017’s Gnosis Kardias (of Transcension and Involution) were enjoyable and satisfying examples of sophisticated black metal art.
Containing 36 minutes of material, Paradeigma (Phosphenes of Aphotic Eternity) takes over from where Gnosis Kardias (of Transcension and Involution) left off, delving deeper into the realms of experimental atmosphere and pushing the band’s black metal base into ever further avant-garde reaches.
The songs are crafted of rich, layered atmospheres that are dense and claustrophobic, while remaining expansive and wide-ranging. There’s a cinematic scope to these songs, and the entire release feels like a single piece that’s just been broken up into individual movements; the music slithers and crawls into and over itself, so that holistically what we have here is a heaving, terrifying mass of occult auras and malign expressions. This album is less about any individual section of song, and more about a hypnotic feeling of mood and shape.
Inferno take the listener on a journey down paths lesser travelled. Black metal may be the underpinning starting point, but along the way the band have such sights to show you, many of which are normally difficult to get a glimpse of. Paradeigma (Phosphenes of Aphotic Eternity) is the sound of raw emotion forged into dark soundscapes. It’s adventurous, progressive, and experimental in the sense that Inferno have clearly delighted in further shedding their blackened form, only to emerge even darker and more resplendent with occult majesty than ever before.
Paradeigma (Phosphenes of Aphotic Eternity) is the next step in the continuing evolution of Inferno. It’s a work based on atmosphere and feeling, and immersing yourself in its dark embrace is a rare treat.
Very highly recommended for connoisseurs of the blackened arts.
Wonderbox Metal 