Wow...I recently mentioned that this reviewer stays in his voluntary (and therefore quite un-paid) side-job for the sole benefit of encountering the music of bands which come by only every once in a blue moon, those who manage to create albums which grab me from the get-go, and have me hold on until the final notes. Sometimes this happens with bands which have only been around for a couple of years only, but occasionally this reviewer comes across bands which have been in existing for much longer, and already have several releases to their credit! One such band, is the Industrial/ Thrash Metal outfit Infection Code, who originally hail from the town of Alessandria in the Piedmonte area of Northern Italy (later to move to Asti, in the province of the same name)!
Founded in 1999, the band was actually born out of fun, its founding members Gabriele Oltracque (vocals, and formerly of Quietflower), Cristiano (those first two both on vocals), Macha (guitars), Enrico Cerrato (bass & electronics, and then in Jason Goes To Hell) and Riky Porzio (drums; and having Jason Goes To Hell and Iron Jaws on his cv) all already in bands, and getting together purely on mutual tastes for music, wanting to do something without restrictions. At the basis of it all were Cerrato and Porzio, whom were seeking to mix the Death Metal influences of their band at the time (Jason Goes To Hell) with the more experimental things happening in the Industrial scene. This initial outfit released the 4-track EP H.I.V 999 in May of 2000, with both Italian and foreign critics describing the band's sound as both groundbreaking and complex & strenuous at the same time. Several live performances followed, and the band started work on their debut full-length Life Continuity Point, which was released through 2KK Records in April of 2002, and garnered the band comparisons to the likes of Fear Factory, Godflesh, Meshuggah and Strapping Young Lads, amongst others. However, the album's creation had not been without strain within the band, and shorty after its release both the guitarist and the second singer departed. The band have however always looked at the separation as a necessary evil, as during the creation of that first full-length they also determined the sound of what was to come later, on their next album.
Realising that having more members in the band meant having more disagreement possibilities, the remaining core members (they're still with the band to date) decided to go for a replacement on the guitar only, eventually finding Demetrio Scopelliti (formerly of Post-Thrash act Arcadia) willing to fall in. Together, they develop and create the song “Aphasic”, which is subsequently recorded and sent out into the world through the wonders of Internet, showing a band which has not finished growing yet, and that's why eventually the guys decided to add the song to their oncoming album. For what happens? In 2003 the band is invited to add a cover of Godflesh's “Nails” for a French tribute album, and just after the recordings Demetrios leaves.
In his place, the band recruits Davide, bringing a fresh batch of influences into the band's sound, as found on their 2004 sophomore album Sterile (recorded with Tommy Talamanca of Sadist repute), which comes over as something completely different from what the band did before, sporting an Underground Post-Core sound. The album is received warmly by numerous printed and online European magazines, and this prompted the band to an increasing professionalism. Besides performing in Italy, the band also played gigs in Germany and the Czech Republic, supporting the likes of Anthrax, Barcode, Cult Of Luna, Extrema, Sadist, and The Ocean. The guys were definitely in an upwards direction on the ladder of the music business!
In fact, their next album would be recorded & produced by none less than Billy Anderson (infamous engineer responsible for the results on Neurosis' Through Silver In Blood and Melvins' Houdini, to name but those) at Los Angeles' Lowered Studios, with a worldwide distribution through Beyond Productions...and prior to its release in October 2007, the band also signs a deal with the Italian booking agency Nadir Rock, and manages to sign a deal with KNVBI Records for a limited vinyl edition of the album on top of everything else.
Following the usual live promotion cycle, the band again gets into its creative mode, writing the material for their fourth album, Fine, which they record at Green Fog Studios with production by Eraldo Bernocchi (known from collaborations with Ephel Duath and Zu) and mastering by Michael Fossenkemper (known from previous work with Naked City and Coalesce, among others) at the Turtletone studio in New York.
Following the live promotion after the album's release in November of 2010 (on the newly founded New LM Records label), the band again enter the Green Fog Studios (and Bernocchi) during the winter of 2012, to record three tracks which will be used on a split 12-inch release with Deflore, an Industrial act from Rome. Released through Subsound Records, the split EP showed yet another evolution for Infection Code's sound, a “Noise Metal” with grand openings of what might be called Melodic Prog, which grow on minimal rhythmic structures and devastating structures (description taken from translation at the band's own (www.) ladittaturadelrumore.com). Soon after the recordings however, the band's line-up is given a serious jolt as, after 9 years of working together, the guitarist departs!
In his stead, the core members recruit the guitarist Paolo Penna whom, although still young, already made himself a nice reputation within the Prog scene of the Asti area (where as you know the band moved to), and with him the core members embroidered yet another chapter to their career with their latest release. Regretfully, I have no idea whether Penna was also in the studio when the band decided to rework their song “Sweet Taste Of Sickness” (off their Intimacy album) I their own studio (IC Laboratories), which they released as a free download on Jan. 25, 2013. Conceptually inspired by one of Italy's most violent periods, namely the terrorist '70s, the lyrics on the new album were fittingly done entirely in the band's native language, and the material was again recorded at Green Fog (but this time with one Mattia Cominotto engineering and producing the thing). Meanwhile, the band signed onto the Argonauta Records roster, who've released the album earlier this year in an elegant limited edition digipak (with other versions following, I'm sure, as the deal is for a worldwide distribution).
On the CD are 7 track with a total length of 43 minutes. Expect moody, albeit Ambient intros, harsh interludes, and vocals going from clean over spoken, to screamed. Expect the vocals to be occasionally somewhat psychedelic and layered too. Expect, as mentioned in the selling points of the info sheet we got along with the promo download of the album, fans of the likes of Skullflower, Godflesh and Neurosis to be very much into the material. In short, expect “A Noisecore/ Post-Metal journey with psychedelic and experimental attitude” (from that same info sheet). For an introduction to the album, you can view a video for the track “Vuotavertigine” (for some reason all title tracks are written in one word) posted (alongside older video material) in the “Dissonanze” section of the band's own (www.) ladittaturadelrumore.com site. The band also has a MySpace page (where possibly more music is posted), and the album (as most other material by the band) is posted at Bandcamp, which should enable you to listen to the music on the new album as well. Failing that, you'll have to make due with the usual 30-second samples posted at Amazon and/or iTunes (provided they carry the albums at all!).
Where you WILL find the album, is in my “Best Albums Of 2014”-lists...becaus eI simply lóve what these guys brought here!