1	Postmortem Pt. 1
2	Fighter
3	Longing
4	Goodbye
5	The Realm of Chaos feat. Heidi Shepherd
6	Everlasting Lethargy
7	These Walls
8	Showers
9	November
10	Never the Same
11	Nine, Ten
12	Postmortem Pt. 2

Infected Rain

Ecdysis

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ft. Heidi Shepherd.
Genre: Symphonic Metal.
Released: 07/01/2022
Via Napalm Records

Album Review: Infected Rain – Ecdysis

Infected Rain is a name you may be familiar with if you’re a fan of symphonic metal, as they have been one of the most exciting bands on the scene over recent years. With fans patience growing thin as the release for ‘Ecdysis’ drew ever closer, I had to see what all the fuss was about. Here are my thoughts on Infected Rain’s newest album.

Opening track ‘Postmortem pt. 1’ instantly brings in a plethora of synth-filled melodies accompanied by a powerful yet assertive beat that really drives the song home. Lena Scissorhands’ vocal transitions are really quite impressive and helps to add an extra layer to the already jam-packed track. ‘Fighter’ is up next, and it’s a decent track that is quite an enjoyable listen, however it doesn’t really stand out as a highlight at all. The song comes across as quite simplistic and repetitive, which unfortunately allows the song to just go in one ear and out the other. 

Continuing through the album and ‘Longing’ picks up to where the previous song left off and helps to elevate the record back to a higher standard with its groovy nature followed by the more eccentric yet enjoyable track ‘Goodbye’. This track utilizes cleans and screams in such a satisfying manner to the point that I had to replay this song a couple of times upon hearing it. ‘The Realm Of Chaos’ is one for the headbangers with its relentless drumming track, while ‘Everlasting Lethargy’ opts for more of a mix of the band’s heavy and melodic side to progress the record’s use of contrast in a more extreme manner. Sudden jumps from heavy to calm allow the band to show off just how well they can pull off these transitions. I highly recommend checking this track out.

Following on from that is ‘These Walls’, a more subtle entry at first, however the chaos quickly becomes apparent as the song chops and changes, yet I found parts of the song to feel a little out of place. The natural flow of the track seemed a little off to me and I couldn’t help but feel like this track is just not as strong as what’s come before it and unfortunately, that feeling carried over to ‘Showers’. These songs are not bad tracks by any means, however they just seem to be lacking that special bit of oomph that has been on display throughout this entire album for the  most part. 

Thankfully, the spark returns with the heavily electronic ‘November’. Once again. Utilizing contrast to create an enjoyable listening experience that is quite unique to Infected Rain, the song perfectly captures the band’s sound. If you need one song to really see what these guys are all about, This is that song. ‘Never The Same’ has some of the bands best clean vocal passages in my opinion. The angelic nature created by the instrumental behind softly sung words is something that is hard to pull off in this genre yet Infected Rain pull it off perfectly. 

As the album comes to a close, ‘Nine, Ten’ really slows down the tempo and turns up the synth. An extremely mild sounding sound compared to the heavier nature of the rest of the album can be a risk this late on, however, it actually creates a satisfying lull in the progression of the album that is followed by the behemoth of a track titled ‘Postmortem Pt. 2’. This track starts off at a similar tempo to the previous song and slowly builds up. It doesn’t get to the extremely heavy nature of some tracks on the record, however, it does just enough to wrap the entire album together nicely. 

Overall, I think Infected Rain have released a really solid album here that shows just how much potential these guys really have. With the release of this record, I have no doubt that the band will see significant growth and continue their incredible rise up the ranks of the Symphonic metal genre. You have got to keep a close eye on these guys because it wouldn’t surprise me if they blow up over the next year.