Let’s turn together a new page of Ad Infinitum’s history.
Since 2018 in Switzerland, the band consisting 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) unveils their story. In 2023, the band announces Chapter III – Downfall, on Napalm Records.
The album starts with Eternal Rains, a motivating and quite heavy track which puts relatively modern influences forward, perfectly fitting with motivating vocals or with some more aggressive screams, making the atmosphere quite dark, like on Upside Down, a composition drawing from Metalcore roots to give an additional energetic touch. The voice easily leads the jerky rhythmic completed by some more airy keyboards, which we will also find on Seth, a rather accessible track which brings together Symphonic influences with catchy Alternative sounds. From The Ashes goes back to melancholic sounds and majestic elements to give the efficient and energetic riffs an interesting relief, then Somewhere Better develops an important contrast between aggressive rhythmic and softer parts, where the vocalist is alone surrounded by soaring keyboards. The musicians will prefer a fast approach for The Underworld, a mysterious and dark track where screams will feed the rage created by crazy tapping. The raw energy calms down a bit with Ravenous, a more melodic composition where the emphasis is again put on heady vocal parts accompanied by soft ambient melodies, but saturated vocals come back before the last chorus, which leads us to the majestic Under The Burning Skies, where the instrumental simply accompanies the vocalist before taking a more important place. Architect of Paradise comes back in the groovy and heavy approach to build a heady and jerky sound that can sometimes be fierce before coming back in the softness, letting The Serpent’s Downfall place brighter sounds on an energetic rhythmic. The end of the album takes shape with the soft New Dawn, a composition with Heavy Metal influences which easily fits as a soaring power ballad before Legends puts this chapter a final touch with an ominous introduction led by a dark voice, followed by the combo’s disturbing riffs, which will know how to get strengthened at the last moment for a massive break, before the last chorus.
With Chapter III – Downfall, Ad Infinitum continues its adventure by exploring darker territories, heavier riffs, and more aggressive elements while keeping its modern and majestic approach.
85/100
Few questions to Korbinian Benedict, bass player for Ad Infinitum.
Hello and first of all, thank you very much for your time! Could you please introduce yourself and the band Ad Infinitum without using the usual Metal “labels”?
Korbinian Benedict (bass): Hello Acta Infernalis. Thank you for having us! We are Ad Infinitum. We would describe ourselves as a heavy music band, with low tuned guitars, thrashing drums, screams, growls and clean vocals. On top of this mixture are some epic orchestrations.
Chapter III – Downfall, your new album, is about to come out. How do you feel about it? Do you already have some feedback?
Korbinian: We feel extremely proud about our new album Chapter III – Downfall. We worked extremely hard and poured our whole heart and creativity in it. So far, we only received feedback from our team around us, our management, label and friends. Everybody seemed to like it so far – so we can’t wait to show it to the public!
How would you sum Chapter III – Downfall up in only three words?
Korbinian: Hard – mystic – intense.
How did you deal with the composition process for this album? Did you notice some changes between this record and the previous one?
Korbinian: The composition process was different compared to the previous album – but not completely. Like with Chapter II we started working on demos and ideas online and sent each other tracks. This time we could actually meet at some point in the process and we had a real songwriting camp. This was not possible for the previous album because of the pandemic. So this is the main difference in the way we wrote the songs. Together in a room – and we actually prefer it that way.
I feel this new album is a bit darker and more aggressive than the previous one, do you feel the same?
Korbinian: Yes, we wanted it to be darker, heavier, more aggressive and mystic. It just came naturally to us and once this process was started, we just kept going. Also the theme of the lyrics – ancient Egypt and Cleopatra is so rich in that regard.
Which song was the hardest one to create for the band?
Korbinian: That’s difficult to say. The easiest one was probably Upside Down. We wrote it all together in our songwriting camp and the basic structure of the song was finished in one day. The hardest one might be New Dawn. We worked on this song a lot and were not sure if it even fits on the album because it’s so different from the others.
Maybe you have a favorite song on this album? Or the one you just can’t wait to play on stage?
Korbinian: It’s hard to choose a favourite. It’s having to choose between your children. But so far, it’s magic to play Somewhere Better live. Upside Down is really fun too and we can’t wait to play From The Ashes live.
Do you already have some plans for the band’s future?
Korbinian: Yes, we have some great ideas and concepts about what we want to do in the far future. For the near future we will play festivals this summer and we are working on tours to follow them.
You recently toured a lot, how was it?
Korbinian: Touring with Amaranthe and Beyond the Black through Europe was more than we could have hoped as a first tour. All our expectations were exceeded by miles! The crowd reaction and the positive feedback we received from so many at the concerts was some next level sh*t. We still have goosebumps thinking back to it. It was also great to get to know the other musicians and crew members and enjoy the hang and the party.
If you had the opportunity to create a massive release show for Chapter III – Downfall, which bands would you choose to open the night?
Korbinian: Well, if Nightwish or Iron Maiden would be available…that would be cool. Just kidding. ?
That was the last question for me, so thank you very much for your time and your music, last words are yours!
Korbinian: Thank you for taking the time and presenting our new album Chapter III – Downfall. We can’t wait for it to be released and we hope to see a lot of the readers at our concerts and have a great evening together! Thanks for all the support!