Band:	Locrian
Album:	Infinite Dissolution
Style:	Drone, Noise, Experimental rock
Release date:	July 24, 2015
Guest review by:	Netzach

01. Arc Of Extinction
02. Dark Shales
03. KXL I
04. The Future Of Death
05. An Index Of Air
06. KXL II
07. The Great Dying
08. Heavy Water
09. KXL III

Ominous winds are blowing. The infernal deluge is coming. Any second now, the spitfire birds of iron and steel will come, drop incineration all over and then... No more fear, no more tears, no more pain. No more... Only an all-consuming light before the endless dark. The purifying conflagration of matter converted into energy will end our angst. Sweet, sweet oblivion. Locrian do not recoil from the thought of the world ending. They are welcoming it with open arms - celebrating the end and letting us join them in an inevitable orgy of nuclear fire and melting flesh.

When the victim clicks Play and "Arc Of Extinction" begins, his or her ears will absorb droning black metal-tinged guitars and slow, simple, but steadily escalating bass drums for a few minutes before being assaulted by Terence Hannum's muffled, always-in-the-background trademark screaming behind a simple but very catchy three-chord riff and spare use of the most perfectly sounding snare drum. Before the listener has a chance to ponder what that was all about, the bombs start falling.

Blast beats and shrieks of ecstatic fury (it really sounds as if the vocalist is burning alive and enjoying every second of it) drive the point home in a manner not unlike "A Visitation From The Wrath Of Heaven" from the previous album - only this time Locrian actually turn the intensity up to eleven before the song ends (you might recall "A Visitation..." consisting of a 7-minute drum fill exploding into black metal at the last second). A "climbing" riff strangely reminiscent of the Super Mario 64 Bowser battle theme appears and as quickly as it began, the song is over.

The next track is more of a post-rock affair, creating images of a calm, scorched Earth just after Armageddon's dust has settled and the twangy guitars remind me a bit of Horseback (they have collaborated in the past, after all). After a brief interlude, which would not be out of place on Mogwai's early albums with its distorted drumming and haunting piano, Locrian treat us with their most straight-forward "rock" song ever. You can even make out some lyrics in this one and "The Future Of Death" could very well be played on radio (aside from the screams, perhaps). "KXL II" is an unexpected aural oasis of distorted bird chirping and quirky strings. Another surprise comes in the form of "The Great Dying," featuring ethereal male and female cleans (not unlike the previous album's title track) over a throbbing synth-bass line and creating a perfect atmosphere of reveling in expectation of an incoming plunge into the abyss.

Artsy and pretentious hyperbole aside, on Infinite Dissolution, Locrian paint their canvas using the same sonic palette that they have dipped their toes into for a few albums now. This time around, however, they are using a canvas without tears or rips. Whereas earlier efforts, especially the previous album Return To Annihilation, were works of great contrast between mellow and out-of-nowhere bursts of synthesizer-laden melodic black metal, their new soundtrack to the Great Big Ending? is much more concise, winding its way through humanity's downfall in a remarkably well-strung together manner.

This is certainly Locrian's most accomplished release as of today. By dialing the metal, noise and drone down a notch and bringing the melodic and ambient elements to the foreground, the band was suddenly able to take their composing technique to the next level. I don't know what to call this kind of music, so post-rock fits like a glove. What I do know, on the other hand, is that the apocalypse has not sounded this beautiful since Godspeed You! Black Emperor's F# A# ∞ and if the music on Infinite Dissolution even barely resembles how it feels to perish in fire and flames, I can't wait to get rid of the fetters that tie us to our earthly domain.