The Infernal Sea has always been a very consistent band, each time putting out powerful and memorable releases, and their second full-length release The Great Mortality, which is a concept album covering the black death, is no exception.
There’s this great element of despair to the music, which fits right in with the subject matter, yet it’s also a tremendously powerful piece, with both the instrumentation and vocals being hard-hitting – the energy behind each individual element of the band’s sound is something to behold and really engages the listener as a result.
A definite highlight of the piece is third track The Bearer, which shows a different side to the band due to it featuring a violin line in addition to the The Infernal Sea’s more ‘usual’ sound. The violin line has this stunningly sorrowful sound that is emotive and also injects a great amount of melody into the piece, worming its way into your head. It’s one of those instrumental lines that rattles about your head for hours after you’ve heard it for the first time – which is testament to some great songwriting.
The Infernal Sea have created an absolute monster with The Great Mortality and shows them continuing to go from strength to strength – it seems almost certain that 2016 will see the band become more of a name in the metal scene.
9/10