Infringement – Alienism

Label: Crime Records 
Releasedate: 16-11-2019

Infringement is a Neo-prog band from Norway, and they’re back with a new concept album that attempts to explore the depths of lunacy and insanity by telling us a musical story through the perspective of the commissioner of the Gentmire Institute, an institution dedicated to psychiatric innovation.

The record is 40 minutes long and has only 4 songs. It starts off with “Disorder”, a track that initiates the journey with an acoustic guitar and piano that work together to go from innocent bedtime lullaby to eerie intensity as other darker and louder elements join in. As the verse starts, the tension that was previously built up by the preceding passage is resolved to a calmer and more linear arrangement both in terms of melody and rhythm. The transitions between verses and the chorus are smooth and seamless which is not a particular characteristic of most prog bands.

“Triad” is on one hand the catchiest song from this record and on the other hand also the most experimental, both qualities belonging to opposite ends of what usually is the classic dichotomy within the genre, meaning that it’s either one or the other, in this case it’s both. The song has an interesting drum groove that feels like it disobeys the listener’s anticipation. The segmentation of parts within this song are more reminiscent of what a prog song should sound like, which means that the song is comprised of various parts that differ from each other in musical style, rhythm and melody, the transitions are rougher and this is to emphasize the movement to new sonic territory. It feels like a “Yes” inspired song with a rougher edge to it. I need to point out that once I heard the a cappella section I was immediately sold, I understood that the Norwegians have done their homework and I was now obligated to listen to this record till the end.

“Therapy” is the shortest track off of this record and it continues on the same conceptual theme of lunacy, this time it’s well represented within the chorus where seemingly random voices are juxtaposed against the falsetto slowed down vocals, I personally like how they transition out with a Strat-type bright guitar riff into the next verse (Instead of the initial pizzicato from the 1st verse), and if that wasn’t enough they added the funky bass lines to put more weight to this new direction.

“Delirium” is the longest track and the ender, it’s 16:57 long and as you can imagine, it’s an epic finale to this story. It’s loaded with all the bells and whistles that you would expect from such a track and that is all types of changes ranging from tempo to time signatures and moods. It has both aggressive and also slow emotional passages, and somehow they manage to gel it all together within this long song. The instrumental ending is spot on, it builds up from silence and minimalism to the complete opposite within 2 minutes, and it’s exactly what it’s supposed to be, epic.

In summary, this record would be of the liking of any 70s prog fan, it’s a collection of influences that any avid listener of this genre would have fun pointing out. I certainly had my moments like, wow that organ sounds exactly like that “Genesis” song, or that vocal melody is so “Gentle Giant”. Apart from that, the songs are still fresh and have their own identity to them, the instrumentation is on point and for a prog band of this type I must say this is a very easy listen, which is a feat. 

Line up:

• Hans Andreas Brandal – Vocals
• Stig André Clason (The Windmill) – Guitar, Vocals
• Kristoffer Utby – Drums
• Bård Thorstensen – Keys
• Espen Larsen – Bass

tracklist

1. Disorder (7:58)
2. Triad (10:37)
3. Therapy (4:36)
4. Delirium (16:56)

Links:

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