Album Review: Infernal Outcry ‘Mass Extinction Requiem I’

Tasmanian 5-piece death metal outfit Infernal Outcry have all the heaviness of Meshuggah and the technical finesse of Dream Theatre. They’re known for their punishing drums, maliciously methodical guitars, and impressive deathly screams and now they’ve finally released their highly anticipated debut EP, ‘Mass Extinction Requiem I’.

‘Mass Extinction Requiem I’ focuses specifically on the dangers of over-population and only consists of four tracks, but each track is bursting with Infernal Outcry’s own twist of contemporary progressive death metal. For instance, the first two tracks, Eclipsed and Perfidious Genocide are quite lengthy at seven minutes plus, but both are ever evolving. There’s lots of tempo changes, melodic riffs and clean, sweet vocals amongst vocalist Liana Eriksen’s throaty growls and drummer Luke Wright’s brutal drumming technique.

The lyrics to our song Collapse & Transformation: I. Collapse were inspired by the book Requiem for a Species by Clive Hamilton. The main lyrical theme in this song is the lack of sustainability of human societies generally, in which overpopulation is always the biggest key factor

Eclipsed is definitely the head banger out of both though with its notable instrumentation and structure. The track proceeds with a series of technical death metal and new prog, djent-like riffs that resemble an amalgamation of Protest The Hero. When on the other hand, Perfidious Genocide opens up with an All That Remains inspired collection of riffs, that later blends with a mix of groove and metal elements. While Eriken also blasts out her abrasive growling, and later shifts into cleaner vocals that echo slightly in the process of the track.

Then up next is four minute Jaws Of Life and it’s a very up-tempo track. The shredding throughout the entire track is so real and you can’t get very far into Jaws Of Life without being completely hypnotised by Eriksen’s mezzo-soprano vocals. Just like closing track Collapse & Transformation: I. Collapse, which showcases all of Infernal Outcry’s talent with it’s weighty and complex rhythms. The intensity builds through the entire track and you can’t help but listen to every single beat.

Infernal Outcry states, “The lyrics to our song Collapse & Transformation: I. Collapse were inspired by the book Requiem For A Species by Clive Hamilton. The main lyrical theme in this song is the lack of sustainability of human societies generally, in which overpopulation is always the biggest key factor”.  ‘Mass  Extinction Requiem I’ is a savage comment on the dangers of over-population and the flow-on effects of Earth including starvation, destruction and chaos.

Infernal Outcry’s unique twist of contemporary progressive death metal is a fusion of complex rhythms and sinister melodies teeming with intensity and just at the start of their career, they should definitely be looked out for in the future!