Infantry - Terminal Society

Infantry are a death thrash group from the Netherlands and “Terminal Society” is their 2nd full length album. There is a little bit of a different sound compared to their previous release in 2017 with a new vocalist and drummer, but both suit the band well enough. At first listen, tracks like ‘Disposer Of Immortality’ and ‘Submission’ sound like a mix up mid to slow paced Slayer meets Unleashed. The vocals are the stand out point with their almost robotic, soulless snarl; some might find them intriguing like when Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir does his robotic rasps on an album like “Death Cult Armageddon,” but some might also find it a bit stale at times as it sounds a bit one sided. The riffs are catchy as hell as though so the vocal issues can easily be overlooked. Other tracks like ‘Destination: Wonderland’ finally break the monotony with some layered vocal snarls/ shrieks and a bit faster pace so there is a bit more of that lively death thrash vibe to the album similar to that of a group like Vader.

‘Under Destruction’ kicks things up a notch with a bit more melody and groove thrash mixed in rather than the more standard death thrash chug that is heard earlier on the album. The vocals suddenly break their robotic tone like a bad cold and sound a bit more lively, less mechanical, and a little more raw and churning. The guitar solos are probably the biggest hit for the track as the band takes elements of Torture Killer, Vader, and even melo death groups like Dark Tranquillity (when it comes to the solos) for a very engaging, and possibly the best track on the album. While the core of the music is still thrash, one can definitely tell the music is headed in more redefined direction. ‘Coup Détat’ shifts things a bit back more towards the typical death thrash formula that Infantry put out earlier on the album and even the vocals seem to catch that robotic cold again. While the solos aim for more of a technical death metal touch along with a lot of the riffs, listeners might be a little disappointed by the loss of momentum that was building from the earlier track.

For those looking for just straightforward Vader-esque music, ‘Hail The Victorious’ does just that along with the title track. Monstrous vocals (cleansed of robotic monotony), catchy riffs at a fast or mid pace and just a very anthemic mid section, these tracks make up for the rather forgettable ‘Inner Warfare’ or ‘Coup détat.’ Overall, the album does have some bumps here or there getting off to a rocky start, but the middle and end of the album is certainly worth listening to.

Infantry does their best to try to mix things up so they don’t become just another death thrash band, and as long as they keep adding melody and groove to their music and varying the vocals, they will certainly stand out more than just sounding like a Legion Of The Damned or Vader clone that so many emulate these days. “Terminal Society” is a solid, apocalyptic listen with plenty of groove to boot.

3 / 5 STARS