It’s Monday and Mondays suck, so let’s grind it out with Infraction’s Posthumous Release.
We’re stepping more into death metal territory this week, thereby momentarily breaking my powerviolence fixation. I’m not off the stuff and never will be, but this is mostly by force. A need to add some variety to the column and because, holy shit, this record is a monster. Like Misery Index and Vermin Womb conjuring Great Old Ones.
Swedish grinding death dealers Infraction are batting up with their fourth release. Despite the title possibly suggesting a break up, the unit is alive and hungry. Posthumous Release is a twenty-two-minute expose of destruction and madness. So, if you’ve been looking for some savage songs, I hope you’re ready for your place to have an open floor plan.
Infraction have the courtesy to get gloomy before things get going. With only a minute and some change, the band conjures up some nice black skies to lead us in. “An Industrious Breed”, a continues to build the mood and get heavy as it trudges forth. And then it takes off. The band get grinding like a sidewinder missile and just explode.
Plenty of bands blast in grind, it’s what makes the genre fun. Infraction aren’t completely about the blasts though. Animalistic and rabid as they often sound, the band actually writes some incredibly groovy stuff. “Unto Nothing” is an incredibly catchy song, for example. The break into a vicious growl and the latter half breakdown are two sections that stick in the brain like hooks. Meanwhile, the drum work of Torbjörn Dahlén is a staple song after song after song. The guy never sounds bored on his kit. Actually, reminds me a lot of Bryan Fajardo’s work (P.L.F., Cognizant, Gridlink, etc.).
This isn’t a straight grinder album either. Though the album is dominated mostly by short songs, the two longer songs are vicious, but also slow burners. “Filter” takes its time to build and gives more of its time to death metal than grindcore. The track is heavy and doesn’t give in to speed. It’s just here to monstrously bulldoze. Meanwhile, “Dåm” starts out fast and heavy as hell, like a blast and a breakdown taken to eleven. Though the track eventually settles on another slower, trudging pace that takes the album out.
It’s aggressive, angry, heavy deathgrind. Infraction have put out a killer display of the genre with Posthumous Release. Sometimes it’s hard to believe bands like this just fly under the radar. They’ve been putting out material for the last five-years. And despite it not being much, the quality speaks for itself. If you’re hankering for some (again) Misery Index, Vermin Womb or Brutal Truth, go on and get grinding with this beast.
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