Band:	Infernal Angels
Album:	Dominus Silentii
Style:	Melodic black metal
Release date:	2004

01. Dominus Silentii
02. Vigilia Secunda
03. Shining Evil Light
04. At The Heart Of Winter [Immortal cover]

I've spent a few months in Italy between March and July 2005, and during this period, every metal website, every metalfan, every magazine had something nice to say about the BM band Infernal Angels. I've even heard a few times the words "best Italian band ever" pop in the conversation, which may be a bit overboard but was enough to alight a sparkle of interest in me. I was very curious about this so-called great band that was not signed to a label and only had released demos (precisely two).

So my opinion after listening to their new demo Dominus Silentii - beside that the artwork is pretty cool - is that they're definitely not the best Italian band ever, but I see why everybody's so enthusiastic about this band. The thing is, Infernal Angels fill a very demanded niche of black metal. With Dimmu Borgir, Old Man's Child and stuff gradually losing respect of a part of their audience and the underground BM bands plunging into undergrounder depths, there is a void in between. Infernal Angels is here to fill the gap.

Their music is black metal in case their name did not give you a clue. But if you listen to it closely, you'll notice that it borrows as much from the melodic side of this genre like Immortal, pre-Spiritual Black Dimensions Dimmu Borgir or even Arcturus for some clean vocals, as from the rawest bands you can find. In the end it sounds more melodic than raw, but this is the kind of album that might appeal to all BM fans: not raw enough to turn off melodic lovers; not really symphonic and aggressive enough to satiate underground fans.

Anyway, the sound is good, the tunes are brutal, fast and catchy, the vocals and the musicianship are professional, what else can we ask for? And they also covered that groovy BM song, you know, this "At The Heart Of Winter" by an unknown black metal band whose name you'll have to guess. This cover is pretty close to the original, but at least it shows that Infernal Angels are also very close to Immortal's branch of black metal: they sound pretty much alike. In other words, if you like your black metal with a touch of melody and if you're searching for something new and fresh, try Infernal Angels. They deserve it.

Highlights: Dominus Silentii, but the rest is of equal quality.