I do feel like ‘Apostle of Infinite Joy’ is far too cheery a title for a metal album, but then again, what do I know? Finalnd’s Antipope have evolved over the five albums and thirteen years of existence form a more progressive black metal outift into a band that is happy to incorporate many styles into their sound to get their music out there. ‘Apostle of Infinite Joy’ is out now through Fertile Crescent Productions.
Opener ‘Harbinger of Dawn’ is pretty catchy, framed by some galloping riffing in the background while a memorable vocal hook soars above some thrashy goodness. There’s a lot of heavy metal/thrash licks throughout, which really helps some of the songs worm their way into your brain. If you imagine what Cradle of Filth was like without all the histrionics, you may come close to this. Layers of gothic atmospheres soak ‘Intoxicating Darkness’, while the title track opens with doomy melodic riffs, which I really like and then turns a bit prog.
That’s the thing with albums like these; sometimes the genre splicing leads to the songs feeling disjointed or out of place. Antipope avoid most of those pitfalls, and they can definitely hit some good heavy notes, for example in the driving thunder of ‘Red Goddess’ or the blasting psychedelica of ‘Veneral Ritual for Dispersion and Reintegration of the Soul’. ‘Apostle of Infinite Joy’ is a record that will not necessarily blow your mind, but you’ll struggle to not enjoy these well written songs.
The Killchain 