From Glory to Infinity

This album is one of the most recent because it was released in October ’09 and there's no doubt it is one of the best albums I’ve heard lately. Faust is an Italian band that executes death metal with high levels of evolution where every detail is carefully treated. Faust was formed in 1992 by Aleister (guitar/voice), who is the leader and founder of the band and also played in Ancient (Nor). I’m sure that this is the best release of the band so far.

Fast death metal is mixed very well regarding technique, melody and brutality, and as a result of this we have tracks where the riffs are intense and macabre with some acoustic parts and both guitars doing a great job, creating an original and versatile sound that doesn't deserve any comparison because there are no similar styles and sounds. The Faust style demonstrates that the influences are left aside to create a masterpiece with unpredictable sounds. They are good musicians and I don’t doubt that besides death metal, they were inspired by known virtuous guitar players as well.

From Glory To Infinity offers us nine songs beginning with Purple Children, giving us the best overture of this cd. Here is the notable line Faust is into because it has an intense beginning and fast passages with an obscure ambiance. There’s an instrumental song here as well that is in fact a kind of duel among the two guitar players. They also used this in the best way, finishing the cd with an instrumental outro.

The cd is professional. The album was mixed at Trident Studios where bands such as Testament, Sadus, and Exodus have worked, so you’ll get the idea about the quality of the recording. The lyrics are topics about perversions and anti-Christianity with very suggestive cover art as well as excellent artwork within the booklet. More points of quality? Ok, here plays an ex-Dimmu Borgir guitar player and Steve DiGiorgio on the bass, so let’s imagine the quality of this band. I don’t usually rate bands, but if I would it would be 9.5/10.

Faust is modern-style, old death metal that shows that there are no limits to this style.

I had never heard of Faust previous to their release of this particular album. I remember checking them out but quickly moving on since I didn’t find it interesting. But now that I’ve received a promo version of the album I have no other choice but to give it some serious listens. One of the first things that strike me is the ugly artwork. Sure, a naked nun isn’t very unusual for metal, but it’s the way it’s drawn. Bodily it looks like a 70 year old woman, the face looks like a 40 year old and the breasts like a horrific boob job. It doesn’t give me high hope that I was wrong back when I first gave From glory to infinity a listen.

The line-up consists of some highly talented and renowned musicians. Vocalist/guitarist Aleister is also the live guitarist for Norway’s famed Ancient, bassist Steve DiGiorgio has a history in Sadus, Autopsy, Iced Earth, Death, Testament (etc etc), and last but not least we have the session drumming by Daray of Vader, Dimmu Borgir and a bunch of other acts. So it’s safe to say these are no spring chickens when it comes down to metal. Hence I’m utterly confused as to why they settled for such a lousy production. It’s muffled and mumbled in all the wrong ways, where the guitar sounds way too high, the vocals too murky, the bass too rumbly and the drums a little too digital. Nothing sounds as to fit with the other.

Musically, on the other hand, I get somewhat confused as well. It sounds like they’re clearly taking influence from the Swedish death metal scene in the early 90ies, but way too melodic. Maybe if they were going for an In Flames style of metal I would understand, but since it also carries attributes of the American Floridian scene’s burliness it comes out very strange sound-wise. The melodic guitar leads along with the rumbling bass is one thing, but combined with the deeply grunting voice and blastbeats it feels weird. I’ve heard other bands mix both of the mentioned styles, but with much better results. The occasional thrashy heavy metal-esque guitar lead doesn’t bring it all nicely together either, it just adds to the confusion. I honestly don’t get this. And to be perfectly honest neither riffing nor drumming is particularly interesting, it’s rather bland.

Originally written for http://www.mylastchapter.net

I don't think Faust is trying to play a brutal death style ala Morbid Angel, Death, and Deicide in any way shape or form, as the previous reviewer believes. This album sounds wholly unAmerican. Instead, Sweden appears to have influenced Faust the most. I don't know how you could listen to this and not believe this is death metal straight out of the early Swedish melodic black/death play book. Part of the reason for the melodic nature, as opposed to a brutal one, may be due to Aleister's involvement with Ancient, a fairly well known melodic back metal band. Where he drew his inspiration, though, is beside the point that this is some great melodic death metal.

One is immediately sucked into a maelstrom of hyper tremoloed guitar riffs and blast beats on Purple Children, and this hypnotic trend is largely sustained throughout the rest of the album. Periodically, things will slow down, and nice little acoustic numbers will provide breaks. But while on the whole fairly intense, the sound here is not obtrusive or heavy, just down tuned a bit to give it that death metal feel. Simply put, the production is anything but annoying and quite easy on the ears.

The instruments are handled excellently, but that's also because they're in good hands. Besides Aleister and fellow guitarist Ghiulz Borroni, we have Steve DiGiorgio providing, as always, some amazing bass lines. In the drum department, Darek "Daray" Brzozowski lays down some precise double bass and blast beats. Solos are frequent and quite enjoyable to listen to. As is the sound in general, they're also quite melodic. The vocals are fairly standard, but compliment the music nicely, instead of overpowering it.

Faust is a pretty old band, forming in 1992, but they've just now gotten around to recording their first full length. I don't know what took them so long, but better late than never, as this is a very solid, if not outstanding debut album. It's unfortunate they don't seem to be that well known.

You would think that a band that sings about anti-Christian themes and hails from Italy, land of the Vatican and center of Roman Catholicism, would be a little more brutal. While the album is very much in the vein of Morbid Angel, Death and possibly a little of Deicide, I can’t say I’m very impressed. The album is well-played and listenable, but I don’t think it is one that I am going to rush out and buy for myself, but I know a few people whom I think might like it.

If you are looking for a band that is an unspirited clone of Morbid Angel, Faust will fill your needs quite nicely. In my mind, there is nothing exceptional here - a sad disappointment once you investigate further into the band’s lineage. The album’s only real shortcoming (it’s a big one though) is the production, which seems to have scoured out the aggression and rawness one comes to expect from the more traditional death metal vein. A very big deal when you are discussing death metal in general.

And just because you place a blasphemous looking nude on the front of your album (it’s a crucified nun), it doesn’t mean that you’re going to get your point across. And unfortunately Faust, although fronted by Ancient’s Aleister and supported by a death metal who’s-who (this includes Ghiulz, Steve DiGiorgio and Darek Brozozowski), doesn’t pack the punch that one comes to expect from a band claiming that they are death metal. In other words: there’s no brutality or venom coming through on the album.

Let’s take the song “Servants of Morality” as an example. While this song has great riffs, sound lyrics and excellent musicianship, the production quality makes it sound watered-down and almost sterile, which is tragic, considering this would be a killer song if it had a little bit of rowdiness behind it. Death metal should have a more chaotic feel to it, and From Glory to Infinity falls painfully short of this expectation, coming off more neat and clean than I think was intended and causing the album to be lower than the expectations set by the eye catching album art work. One positive aspect I would like to note about this album is the exceptional use of acoustic guitars on a few of the songs. If they had made a folksy/acoustic album, I would be more sold on Faust.

If the production on this album had been more unique and less cookie-cutter, I would be able to give it a better rating and feel good about it. Musically, Faust is well stated, their themes are hardcore and in your face, and the lyrics are great. I just can’t get past the feeling that they were pulling their punches, causing me to feel a little short-changed in listening to this album. My advice to Faust: don’t hold back next time and you won’t come off as a poor man’s Deicide.

by Kesh Butler, contributor from Metal Psalter Webzine
http://www.metalpsalter.com

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