I finally got around to listening to "Infernum In Terra" by A Pale Horse Named Death. It's everything I could have wanted, and more. It's so good! It starts off with a very creepy unsettling but somewhat secular piece with some tribal drums, choir-like singing, growling, eerie chanting, and almost alien sounding talking, ending with a soul sucking gasping for air sound. "Infernum" lasted for two and a half minutes of unease. I'd expect nothing less from them, and enjoyed it a lot.
It then jumps right in to "Believe In Something (You Are Lost)". This song is fantastic! It has such poweful chugging riffs, doomy melodic riffs, almost trance inducing vocals, and a prominent drum line. The guitar solo is so distorted and complicated, and the song fades out with it echoing. It's gorgeous.
The second track, "Cast Out From The Sky" starts with a classic Type O style guitar slide and some lower end keyboard notes. They really sound like a Type O / Alice in Chains / Ozzy Osbourne fusion, and I'm all about it! I love it! I think it's wonderful that they're able to make new music with a similar but very different sound. This song is a lot more doomy than the first one, with a beautifully done fuzzy guitar solo.
Halfway through the album we get a minute and a half of church bells, secular chants, and a dark sermon. It's very interesting, and a great insert to break up the flow of the album. While each song is definitely distinctly different, they also sort of flow together really well, so I really like the break in the music.
"Two Headed Snake" is a really interesting track. The guitars might be in a different key? Definitely a deeper tone with some cool sludgey distortion. It also has some heavily distorted vocal echoes, which I thought was really interesting. There was a scream in there I also really liked. One thing this band definitely has a lot of is shredding guitar solos. This track had another wonderful one. The song has a false ending with some church organ, before going back into another verse, and then finally ending on a minute long note. I thought this one really shows a lot of their versatility and outstanding talent.
"Reflections Of The Dead" was one of the singles we got awhile back, but it's still my favorite track on the album. It's just so good. It has a lot more layered vocals, if you listen really closely there's some bell chimes accenting some of the guitar notes, the lyrics are just so dark, there's a few guitar slides, it's just a wonderful song that I absolutely love. There's so many layers to the sound and so much complexity.
The album finishes off with some whistling wind with foul voices upon the air, accented by a solemn piano and stringed instrument piece titled "Souls In The Abyss". It's hauntingly beautiful.
This album has so many different elements to it, all of which I adore. I feel like some people are writing these guys off as being the burnt sooty remains of Type O. But they're really rising from the ashes like a phoenix and doing their own thing, and it sounds incredible. I enjoyed this album immensely. I think more people need to give it a chance. These guys are master musicians, and it shows in every piece they put out. ~Gangis
Image Credit: Album cover for "Infernum In Terra" by A Pale Horse Named Death on Long Branch Records.