ALBUM REVIEW: Innumerable Forms – Pain Effulgence

Boston gloomy death metallers Innumerable Forms are back with their third full length. After enjoying their prior outputs, this seemed a no-brainer to sink rotting teeth into. Out via Profound Lore Records on August 22nd.

Opting to enter with primitive riffs and guttural vocals over pounding drums; the immediate and eerie death metal atmospherics have a strong Finnish feeling to them. Churning with morbidity, the tremolo picking and blast-beats kick in with those monstrous vocals remaining a consistent force. Everything about the record and its crushing production harkens back to the 90s while feeling tasteful in doing so. Doomy moments break up the onslaught adding to that charnel atmosphere akin to Incantation, Rippikoulu, Winter and other masters of the genre. It feels like Innumerable Forms knows exactly what they want to do and continuously nail it. There is no pretentious meandering here, just strong doomy death metal from the crypts, reeking with that essence of the tomb that makes this style so fantastic. Thankfully along with the riffs, we get some really cool solos. They don’t go overboard but add a great flavour to the record with its reverberate and macabre droning, elevating things now and then. So far, we are off to a very impressive start which is no surprise from a band who’ve been so consistently solid.

From the funereal to bludgeoning insanity, Innumerable Forms keep things flowing with organic transitions and tempo changes that balance out gloriously. Those gruelling passages and more expansive moments tie together perfectly for the style with an authentic delivery across the board. The artwork and production are just as ideally suited to the record too, giving it the package it deserves for a roaring cacophony of fetid death metal excellence. Sometimes the simplistic is more effective and that definitely feels like the case on “Pain Effulgence” which may be stripped back but never lacks impact. The drums are tastefully varied, the riffs cascade total rotten malice and the vocals are visceral to the ear. Working in elements comparable to the likes of Celtic Frost (especially “Monotheist”), Cianide, Candlemass, Hooded Menace and more; I admire the originality while being so firmly rooted in high quality influences. There is simply nothing to dislike if you enjoy death metal.

Of course I have to be objective, it is easy in this genre to critique stuff for playing it safe and or not “reinventing the wheel” and this album certainly does not. But does that really matter when they are honouring a pure and worthy vein of death metal presented so long ago in a way that is still pleasing to the ear? I put it to you lovers of the macabre and sombre to decide for yourselves, but I certainly really enjoyed spinning it. There are moments of sublime bright to contrast the darkened and dragging doom. Equally the warmth of the guitars makes it so easy to allow the album to flow forth like molten offal. Packing a punch with some grooves, memorability is not forgotten in favour of the superb atmosphere that they concoct beautifully. Each track is well thought out and holds value to the full length, which in its total form is wonderful. Once again, I am impressed by the old school craftsmanship of Innumerable Forms and if there’s a death-doom record worth hearing from very recent memory, this is it.

A supreme example of doomy, gloomy and unearthly death metal. Harkening back to the gods of the 90s while moving onwards in their own pathway, Innumerable Forms have given us a monolithic third opus that lovers of eerie and decomposing soundscapes will adore. Expect total death and darkness and you shall be satisfied. This is a strong record that I will surely come back to, definitely some of the better death-doom I have heard this year. Ride the dissonant drift!