Review Summary: An incredibly solid and pleasing slab of what you would expect from melodeath metalcore.
After six years Disarmonia Mundi are back with Cold Inferno. The band had a full line up on their first album “Nebularium”. Overall their debut was a progressive metal record with some interesting arrangements. Since that first album the band has gone to a smaller lineup with many guest performances. Ever since after that first record the band has been instrumentally driven completely by Ettore Rigotti who provides the guitars, drums, bass, keyboards, and some clean vocals. Other member Claudio Ravinale provides harsh voxs. And of course, Bjorn Strid from Soilwork and Christian Alvestam also do some vocal work for the band, although it is unclear how much on this new record. As a new listener of the band I am judging this album essentially as a standalone within their discography.
This record never messes around with any odd arrangements in the slightest. All parts are completely locked into said genre. If you want something new in that regard; keep looking. The guitars and drums don't really have stand out riffs. Rhythm guitars go for conventional rhythms and some typical badassery. Although the lead guitar work here is quite good and prevalent (essentially raising each track to a new level) and the drums include great use of the ride cymbal. There are also very short hints of clean guitar sections and some nice stereo layered guitar parts. Keyboards are rarely present and when they are it is as a nice ambient layer. When digging into this, one may be thrown for a loop at how complex some of these song structures actually are. The lengthiest track, “Oddities From the Ravishing Chasm” as well as “Magma Diver” both opt to play the chorus as part of the intro, go through a large series of different sections and bridges, then finally hit the chorus one more time as an outro. As for the great tug of war between songwriting and technicality this album is in a great spot. Songwriting obviously comes first, and nothing specific is going to make your jaw drop. Because of this, it is even more remarkable that there are so many impressive moments on the album. These moments come from how smooth sections flow together as well as some subtle and managing at the same time both conventional and inventive change ups that betray listener expectations. Often from spinning a guitar part's next section in a slightly unexpected way or putting a guitar lead in an interesting spot. Or simply a section that lasts longer than expected where the drums change half way through. These subtleties can easily be missed if the listener is glossed over by a sense of the music being too familiar. Don't mistake their commitment to the genre as a lack of creativity. Here Disarmonia Mundi show a desire to create something valuable in its own right.
This album does a good job of sticking to its style the whole way through while still mixing things up. The classic mid screams drive most of the verses but the harsh vocals that really steal the show are the high shrieks. Low gutturals never show up here. Clean vocals are mostly used to anchor choruses but sometimes show up in unexpected bridges, leading to some of the best clean moments on the album. Additionally you will see many different tones in the cleans throughout the album, sometimes sounding like Scar Symmetry or older (thankfully) All That Remains with the signature clean vox mixed with a layer of harsh for a powerfully melodic sound. Insomnium style spoken word vocals are here too. Song styles cycle between the more melodic and anthemic “Creation Dirge”, “Toys of Acceleration” and the more thrashy “Behind Closed Doors”, “Blessing From Below”, and “Clay of Hate”. Album highlight “Coffin” is one of the most melodic and dynamic songs with one of its best choruses.
The production here could be a little more crisp especially in the guitars. Sometimes parts don't jump out as well as they could. It has a live sound, if you heard the band live and they were extremely tight it could sound just like this. The rawness arguably adds to the energy of the album but can take some getting used to.
Cold Inferno shows a band that is at the top of their game. Typifying the genre, it doesn't break any boundaries, but wholly succeeds in creating entertaining and energetic material that has large doses of both beauty and brutality. Still, for the most impact possible listen to about half of any of the album at any one time. If you are a fan of the genre or want to be, and looking for a new album, Disarmonia Mundi are here to satisfy your reasonable melodeath/metalcore expectations.
