Artist: Infernal Presence
Country: Germany
Label: Darkness Shall Rise Productions
Formats: 12″ EP / CD
Year: 2025
Infernal Presence is a new Black Metal band from Germany that were picked right up by Darkness Shall Rise Productions. The duo have only identified themselves by their initials, so it is currently unclear who the musicians are, but given that they were able to establish themselves on a well-known label right away, it seems likely that both gentlemen already had some experience (and contacts) prior to this. In any case, Infernal Presence debuts here with an EP lasting almost half an hour, available on both vinyl and CD. But anyone expecting something along the lines of old Necromantia, based on the title of this EP, may be somewhat disappointed.
Except the fact that both bands play a form of Black Metal, Infernal Presence hasn’t got much to do with the anything done by those early Greek Black Metal bands, nor with occult scenery on the cover of ‘Fiery Paths’. So, a little misleading perhaps, but hey… at some point every cover art and title has already been taken or used before.
Instead, Infernal Presence is presenting some mildly atmospheric mid-tempo Black Metal with some hoarse semi-grunted vocals. Some eerie melodies might push the music slightly into the direction of what you could call an “occult” atmosphere. Perhaps a comparison with Die Kunst Der Finsternis comes closest. Yet, the moderately contrarian and dissonant riffs makes it more akin to bands like Craft or the more recent Icelandic kind of Black Metal bands. But, honestly, Infernal Presence is not even a shadow of those aforementioned bands. Therefore the music simply omits the necessary tension and atmosphere. And, more importantly, I’m afraid the songs are even a bit boring. Without wanting to sound too harsh, after a few minutes alreadt, my attention completely wanders off and the music fades into background noise. As unfortunate as it is, I really need to make my best effort to actually listen to “Fiery Paths”. I’m afraid there’s very little fiery about this debut.
