1349 - The Infernal Pathway

1349 - The Infernal Pathway (SEASON OF MIST - LP 2019)

There's five years gap since "Massive Cauldron of Chaos" was released, but 1349 didn't lose any fire from their music and "The Infernal Pathway" is just a proper continuation of what this band was doing on albums like "Hellfire" or "Massive...". Obviously, some people will say that it all sounds too repetitive for this band and their quite unique, yet narrow take on the ferocious and insanely vicious black metal is boring. On the other hand, why change the formula if it proved to be right? When 1349 came up with a much different album "Revelations of the Black Flame", I didn't like the result, so personally I just prefer if they stick to what they do the best. 

Obviously "The Infernal Pathway" can be seen as a small step forward, anyway. First of all, the production seems to be even more clean and less harsh and chaotic when compared to some of their older albums. And that is good, because such intense and often fast black metal needs a better sound, if you want to actually hear what the band is playing and feel the powerful vibe of the music. Especially if 1349 likes to come up with some disharmonic riffs or just more technical and structured patterns. Which they do often. It definitely is not your average simplistic black metal. Also, the music seems to be much more diverse and less monotonous from what 1349 was doing on some previous records. It's not a constant blastbeat and one dimensional guitar shredding. There're surprisingly quite many slower parts and sometimes almost thrashing riffs appear. And yes, there's still a lot of fast paced, cannonading black metal with the intensity of machine gun. But every song has some nice varied patterns, great combination of different tempos or riff styles, and Frost did hell of a good job behind his drum kit. 

It does sound like 1349 still, do not worry. If you liked their previous albums, "The Infernal Pathway" won't disappoint you. Their characteristic style, especially Ravn's characteristic ghastly voice are all here, no compromises have been taken. But I think that the band reached a new quality with their songwriting. It's aggressive as hell, savage and brutal black metal record. And certainly one of 1349's best. 

Standout tracks: “Abyssos Antithesis”, “Enter Cold Void Dreaming”, “Stand Tall in Fire” 

Verdict: 80/100