Here’s a gem that missed my ears from earlier in the year, and most likely missed yours, too. A one-man project from Germany, Infestus is here on its third album, an album with a rich and broad an aural palette that makes for wonderful listening. The slow tones of intro Akoasma alone are worth savouring in full, a soft, ominous opening that gives a good hint of the wall-of-noise guitars that are going to be used for full atmospheric effect – as well as making it audibly clear that Andras himself is a skilled musician, some show-off lead guitar and complex drum interplay setting you up nicely for the first track proper. When it comes, Down Spiral Depersonification surprises with its restraint, sounding like modern Dimmu Borgir gone proggy with a real focus on building instrumental structure amidst the mid-paced crawl and impressive vocals. The track, like most on the album, is over eight minutes long and uses it well, the melodic guitar lines giving a real epic atmosphere and a brief foray into string-plucking acoustic guitar serving to make the storm even more effective when it resumes.

Classy, that’s the word I’m grasping for. The Behemoth-ic plucking that opens Darkness Blazing In The Flame Of Fire leads so neatly and naturally into whispers vocals atop a doomy riffing, building in speed and viciousness with perfect songwriting skill that it’ll take two listens before you notice how perfect and headbangable the subtle little breakdown and subsequent groovy riffing is. Infestus is never shy about its modern stylings, as the catchy crunch of Torn Observer proves, but neither does it stray far from the dark path – Mirror Mind Reality’s bleak wall of despair is from the very pit itself, whilst the doom-ridden tones of Der Blick Hinaus are hugely effective. You have to wait for closing track Descend Direction Void for a hint of speed and viciousness, but as the ensuing, almost orchestral outro proves, that is not what Infestus’ brand of black metal is about. Heavy and melodic, bleak and melancholic, E x I s T is a damn good album – when the one criticism you can make is about the clumsy song titles, you know you’re onto a winner. Fans of atmosphere will love this; those in search of something with a little more savagery should turn their gaze towards this week’s Haemoth...