Review Summary: This grim 1998 black metal is certainly worth multiple listens.
In The Streams of Inferno is some seriously ugly, dark black metal. This album feels like something you were never meant to see. It's the worst nightmare you've ever had. There's a brief prelude in the form of the instrumental first track, Industries of Inferno. After that, it's near-relentless. Just when you get tired and you think you've had enough, there's a moment of snyths or silence -- but just enough to keep you alive. And right after, they come back harder than before.
What this album lacks in subtlety and variation, it makes up for in raw intensity and terror. Aside from the occasional appearance of a synth, what you can expect from this album is in-your-face, ice-cold catharsis. The guitars sound like fire without the warmth, the vocals an oppressive storm without the eye, and the drums a malicious machine without control. It all comes together to create a really bleak image of the world imagined by the band on this album.
Don't come to this album for spiritual affirmation or a subtle, varied presentation. Come to this album if you want to be left a carcass after listening. Aside from the programmed drumming which is occasionally unimpressive but usually works to this album's favor, this album doesn't have a lot going against it. It's brief, dark, and Hellish. I don't see it as being particularly innovative or eye-opening, but it is certainly an experience.
