Location: Portland, Oregon
Country: USA
Genre: Progressive death/black metal
Full length: Infinitude’s Passage
Format: Digital, CD, LP
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Release date: July 31, 2026 (digital), September 4, 2026 (CD, LP)
From what I’ve read about them, Ænigmatum instantly engenders admiration for their abilities as composers and instrumentalists, and this awe grows the more you listen. On two demos and three albums they’ve plunged head first into determining how much eccentricity they can bring to their foundations in death and black metal, and they always manage to find a new eccentricity, keeping cohesion through their technical capacity.
The technical ability displayed on “Infinitude’s Passage” is the groundwork for hyperactive weaves and corkscrews that even the drums are part of, rather than just supporting the guitars and bass. The term “forward thinking” has come up a few times when reviewers described this album, and it’s also been described as being far removed from what extreme music sounded in the 1990s.
“Infinitude’s Passage” builds toward an unleashing of sound and fury with a spontaneity in direction that’s close to impossible to guess at. Something about this unconstraint had a certain magnetism to it, an attraction that compelled me to open the door between my perception and the band’s improvisational license. Upon doing so I understood the compliments Ænigmatum got for their songwriting, as I was engrossed, almost submerged, in their presentation.
The band’s writing is unconstrained and fiercely independent of any rules of how death metal and black metal should be written. The band’s flow between multiple changes doesn’t thrust you with abrupt hooks but guides you gently through a casual, impromptu process, as if the material was crafted in the studio with subtlety and ease. It’s as if they were aware of how much was being woven into each track and aimed to make the songwriting process smooth and digestible, rather than overwhelming.
There are harsh sections throughout, with the bass and drums consistently hitting hard and the rhythm guitars cross over death and black metal to anchor the songs. The opening strains of "Pitiless Mechanism" establish strong connections to traditional death and black metal, a point Ænigmatum reaffirms in each of the following tracks. While the bass progressions emphasize certain notes when needed, they also incorporate deviations that expand the range of the songs without drawing too much attention or overshadowing the other instruments.
The rhythm guitars complement these variable bass patterns with irregular deviations of their own, and the drums swing between solid beats and fills that decorate the interaction between the bass and rhythm guitar. As the stage setting for the songs, these instruments communicate with each other, pushing the material closer to prog than you would have anticipated from extreme metal.
The lead guitars do the most work to widen the spectrum of sound, with bulky riffs reminiscent of melodic death metal bands like Amon Amarth, dissonant riffs akin to Voivod, black metal chords, atmospheric layers, outlandish note progressions, and harmonies overlapping by two or three layers. The vocals are mostly consistent, but they can sometimes deviate into spoken word sections or other moods to fit different parts of a song.
The noninvasive techniques the band uses to hold all this together are what give "Infinitude’s Passage" its memorability, allowing you to remember one or more of these tracks after it ends. Somber guitars and horn instruments were added to the closing title track, possibly as a hint of the sounds and instruments that may be part of the band's next album, and the one after that. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Kelly McLaughlin: Vocals, guitar, bass clarinet
Eli Lundgren: Guitar
Brian Rush: Bass, backing vocals
Pierce Williams: Drums, synthesizers, backing vocals
Patrick Corona: Saxophone
Danny Quetzal: Backing vocals
Track list:
1. Pitiless Mechanism
2. Inseverable
3. Architects Of The Fated
4. A Tarnished Nexus
5. Nocturne Of Ageless Reverie
6. Infinitude’s Passage
