Label: Defying Danger Records

Date: May 28th, 2021

Seriously!? Four freakin’ years since “Addicted to Flesh” and we get twenty-seven minutes? Almost three of those going on introduction, intermission and outro? Holy shit!

Yes, that was my first reaction to “Psychosis”. After the initial “hell yeah, the new Infest album is in town”.

Well, considering only two of their six full length records have gone across the half an hour mark, I shouldn’t have been surprised. It’s just that this is the longest gap between two Infest records. Not counting the two track EP they published a couple of years ago.

On the other hand, I must give these guys some credit. They always keep it nice and tight. Short but deadly. They’ve done it yet again.

With a bit of a twist, though.

What was subtly announced on “Addicted to Flesh” and the mentioned EP got further infused into Infest soundscape. Guitar development, most notably. While the riffing is still set to mash whatever lays ahead, the melodic lines are more up front and make a deeper impact on the whole. Now, the trick with those is that one mustn’t go too far. Especially when looking for a pure death / thrash annihilation. And for the better part of the album, Infest keeps it under control. To be exact, only the melodic backdrop to the chorus of “Blood for Blood” doesn’t quite sit with me.

Meanwhile, “Nuclear Deathrash” offers this extremely nice dive into olden hardcore in the chorus. Speaking the truth, it fits like a glove to the bestiality that is the rest of the track. Naturally, such a chorus has one outcome. Goosebumps all over, of course. The sense of pride for the simple fact of being a part of the metal tribe is what Infest is best known for. The mentioned track follows in a long line of similarly themed songs that regularly appear on their records.

If that’s not incentive enough for you, take “The Last Cremation”. A song featuring guitar and vocal work by the duo better known for their parts in legendary Immolation.

Speaking of guest stars on “Psychosis”, though the Immolation guys are the more famous, the appearance of Igor Miladinović in “Hail Fire, Hail Death” is beyond belief! His clean voice addition elevates the track to a whole new level. Ritualistic almost, as provided in the video clip recorded for it.

At this very moment, I do not have the chance to browse through the lyrics, but there might just be yet another novelty. What I think I understood from Vandal’s angry, growling shouts is that there is a bigger accent on the actual social topics this time. Sure, blasphemy, rage, warfare and other similarly nice topics are in majority, but the message to the blind masses seems to appear every so often. Still, don’t quote me on that, I can’t be sure.

Now, the people who are used to Infest and the abominations they have created in the past will most certainly not be disappointed. It is still a pulverizing meat grinder of a death thrashing machine. Nothing of its ferocity is lost. The quartet simply upgraded it. With extended freedom for guitar explorations, additional drum patterns to diversify the more brutal parts and a quick search outside the closed box, Infest remains loyal to the initial idea, but avoids repetitiveness.

“This is the way we want to live! Nuclear deathrash, keep it real!”