Ad Infinitum unveils its second album.
Created in 2018 in Switzerland, the band is now composed of Melissa Bonny (vocals, Malefistum, ex-Evenmore, ex-Rage of Light), Adrian Thessenvitz (guitar, Schwarzlicht), Niklas Müller (drums, Devilizer, Fallen After Midnight) and Korbinian Benedict (bass). Chapter II – Legacy, their new album, follows the first one released last year, and depicts the band’s new step, with Napalm Records again.
We begin with the soft introduction of Reinvented, a composition that melts epic sounds, solid rhythmic and those hypnotic vocals. Melancholy and blackness mix up together, creating catchy sonorities, then Unstoppable offers a slower tempo to emphasize riffs’ heaviness. Some backing vocals on choruses unveil rage under this accessible and warlike rhythmic, while leads offer epic tones, like on Inferno, a slower but extremely hooking song. Riffs are quite simple but majestic, taking benefits of some airy leads before Your Enemy, an aggressive and heady composition. The band welcomes Nils Molin (Dynazty, Amaranthe) for Afterlife, a track that links majestic sonorities and the two voices’ intensity. The addition of another voice offers an interesting diversity, then Breathe unveils an intriguing and hooking softness. The vocalist displays all her potential on this track, that will lets place to Animals, a quite modern song. We notice a screamed break before epic leads, then energy surfaces again with Into the Night. The song is very dark and offers aggressive howlings as well as mesmerizing clean vocals, then the final break reconnects with heaviness before Son of Wallachia, a very soaring composition. The sound is appeasing, catchy and above all very melodic, while My Justice, Your Pain stands as one of the most energetic and effective of the album. The song’s groove is quite gloomy, but vocals makes it more accessible, then screamed parts unveil aggressiveness, creating a contrast with the very soft chorus. The rhythm part of course adjusts to vocals, offering different shades, then Haunted unveils some melancholy as well as a very pessimistic ambience to strengthen the band’s solid sonorities as well as this catchy contrast. We end with Lullaby, an as majestic and worrying as heavy and mysterious composition, exploiting the vocalist’s different tones, but also orchestrations to strike.
The universe of Ad Infinitum expands with albums. Whether Chapter II – Legacy stands to be the following of their first album, it is also an evolution of their sound. More majestic, darker, more contrasted, but above all more intense, rawer, and more worked.
85/100