INFIRMUM is a one-man doom death metal band from Jyväskylä in central Finland, founded by Timo Solonen back in 2019, from the ashes of his solo project KUOLONKOURA.
The debut album, “Walls of Sorrow”, was released in late February 2020 through the Finnish label Inverse Records.
Even though INFIRMUM is a solo project, Solonen recruited four musicians for the recording sessions of the first full-length album, providing a massive and structured sound to the final product.
The album consists of ten songs and its total timing is 48 minutes, which means that the songs have a relatively short duration, especially compared to the genre’s standards. This is, in my opinion, a strong point that keeps the listener focused and makes the whole listening experience particularly enjoyable.
The variety of the ten songs is a remarkable bonus: “To Darkness” as an opening track shows a death metal -oriented attitude, while on the following track, “Cause of Sorrow,” a doomish atmosphere kicks in, starting from the deep growling vocals and the heavy riffing technique, which also reminds me a bit of ALICE IN CHAINS’ early years.
“Shadows of the Past,” with its melodic structure and melancholic feeling, keeps the whole flow on the doomy side, in the style of some Finnish legendary doom death metal bands such as SWALLOW THE SUN and INSOMNIUM.
On the fourth track, “Silence,” it is possible to identify the influence of two masters of doom metal: PARADISE LOST and MY DYING BRIDE. The solemnity of the pace and the anguished sound of the lead guitar take the listener into a vortex of sensations, all of them referable to the typical doom sound from United Kingdom in the early ‘90s.
The following two songs, “Doom” and “Wake me” are, in my opinion, not particularly memorable: we can still find some other bands’ influence, not-so-remarkable riffs and quite predictable vocals as well.
The main riff of “Autumn Breeze” builds a solid structure and, together with the vocals, creates a great combo between a Finnish approach to the genre (the vocals clearly recall SWALLOW THE SUN) and the English school, still on the PARADISE LOST side, including the outro of the song.
“Sail Away” seems to be an explicit tribute to the Finnish legendary band SENTENCED: riff-wise we can immediately detect the influence of the band, especially from their mid 90’s album “Amok.”
The following song, “Fearless,” takes the listener through the end of this journey with its typically doomish slow tempo, while the last song, “Trust,” presents an interesting ¾ bass intro that evolves into an epic atmosphere, where the rythm and the lead guitar interact and create a massive, heavy pattern.
In the end, INFIRMUM’s “Walls of Sorrow” is a quite good debut album, even if other bands’ influence seems to be its main staple.
Written by Licia Mapelli
Lineup
Timo Solonen: guitars, vocals.
Tracklist
- To Darkness
- Cause Of Sorrow
- Shadows Of The Past
- Silence
- Doomed
- Wake Me
- Autumn Breeze
- Sail Away
- Fearless
- Trust
Label
Inverse Records
