INVERNOIR – Aimin' For Oblivion

vote
7.5

• Band:
  WINTER
• Duration: 00:47:46
• Available from: 27/09/2024
• Label:

• Code666

Streaming not yet available

Invernoir's career proceeds slowly but inexorably, giving us a new welcome full-length almost exactly four years after the release of their debut album “The Void and the Unbearable Loss”.
With this second studio effort, the Roman band manages to consolidate and refine their identity, moving confidently among the shadows of a melodic death-doom that has its feet firmly planted in the nineties school, to which are added more contemporary ideas and a calmness that, especially in the colder and more melodic passages, recalls Swallow The Sun.
One of the most interesting aspects of “Aimin' for Oblivion” is its compactness: compared to the first album, the new work appears a little less derivative, but also and above all more cohesive and flowing. The influences of the gothic-doom of the past, although obviously present, are here a little less explicit and better hidden in a tracklist that this time proceeds avoiding too marked tears between the various registers or out of proportion citations, in favor of a slightly more distinctive voice. A song like “Unworthy” is exemplary in this sense: the incipit, with its rarefied atmospheres, immediately recalls Anathema, but the piece then develops into a robust midtempo that flows into an enveloping chorus, showing how Invernoir know how to skillfully mix introspection and power, wave arias and classic gothic metal. paradiselostian memory.
Of course, many of the classic rules of the genre are still faithfully respected: the alternation between growling and clean voice is well-measured, the lyrics are imbued with passion and melancholy, and the pace of the songs is measured, but not monotonous. Clearly, some moments may seem tied to a script already known, but overall we are not witnessing a simple tribute; the efforts of the quartet instead have the feel of a reworking done with a certain panache, where respect for tradition often takes a more lively turn, in the wake of what has been done recently by bands like Counting Hours and Decembre Noir. Speaking of panache, some verses in Italian may perhaps seem a little “over the top”; on the other hand, it is undeniable that these parts give a distinctive character to the songs in which they are present, helping to outline a more marked identity for the band.
Overall, “Aimin' for Oblivion” presents itself as an album that should not leave indifferent the great fans of the genre: with a clean and powerful production, capable of enhancing both the most intimate moments and the most energetic ones, and an impeccable execution, with an instrumental and vocal performance that leaves nothing to chance, this is a chapter that demonstrates how Invernoir are a growing band, capable of remaining faithful to their roots without giving up on refining themselves.