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INFRARED
Manifestation
Self-Released

Tech!
Drugs!
Monkey business!

ByTown bangers INFRARED sure know how to make up for a nearly 30-year absence from the metal scene. And they have done so by a lot of relentless gigging - as their pedigree of past tours alongside the likes of ANVIL, EXCITER, RAZOR, HAMMERFALL, ARTILLERY, ATROPHY and especially SACRIFICE (whom they'd also first opened for in 1987 and again in 2018 prior to their comeback) among others will attest - over the course of nearly a decade as well as finding the time to release three studio albums during that same narrow timeframe. Adding to their rapidly-growing studio album catalogue would be their fourth effort Manifestation, which is quite possibly the band's heaviest and darkest album to date. As frontman/guitarist Armin Kamal explains on its concept: "Many of the album's themes are anxiety or fear-based, or based on toxic behaviours, whether interpersonal or at a global level. One of the songs even touches on the danger of AI, so there is some irony there between using AI for the album cover and then writing a fictitious future warning of its dangers."

Lyrical seriousness aside, Manifestation also takes its proficient old-school thrash leanings to faithful levels. You not only get to hear both Armin and Kirk Gidley's soaring riffs on tracks such as the stomping number "Concuss", the emboldened anti-drug WHITE ZOMBIE-sounding "Demon's Blood" and the thundering "Manifest Nation" but also both the rhythm breakdowns courtesy of bassist Mike Forbes and drummer Alain Groulx on the apocalyptic number "Reforma" and the chaotic crash of "My Dreams Are Real". And as just about every thrash metal album released since the Reagan/Mulroney years worth its salt will tell you, many of its lyrically imaginative songs are inspired by the silver screen: "Nikko" (named after the lead flying monkey in The Wizard Of Oz), "My Dreams Are Real" (inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula and the hell those with eternal life must go through) and "Pressure Syndrome" (inspired by Michael Douglas' defiant character William Foster in the 1993 movie Falling Down). I'd also wager that the punishing furor of "Parasite Patrol" was also inspired by a couple of late nights watching the entire Terminator franchise, given that the song itself is all about technology running rampant with dangerous results. "Manifest Nation" also has something of the same idea, though its message has more to do with personal disconnect through technological distractions. And given that the closing number "Then The Earth Goes Black", with its brooding vocals and abrupt climax, is about the threat of nuclear warfare, some distracting levity in between is otherwise much needed.

While most bands, following a long period of inactivity, would have morphed into the background as quietly as they could, unable to adjust to a new climate, INFRARED, in having survived various musical climates, family time and even a global pandemic, have weathered many a strong tempest in their career to the point that they can easily thrive on chaos at this point in their history just to remind them of where they'd come from, with Manifestation being that testament of their survival in both sound and shape.

5.0 Out Of 5.0

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