Ad Infinitum – 'Chapter II: Legacy' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Reinvented

2. Unstoppable

3. Inferno

4. Your Enemy

5. Afterlife

6. Breathe

7. Animals

8. Into the Night

9. Son Of Wallachia

10. My Justice, Your Pain

11. Haunted

12. Lullaby

This album showcases a band who have ambition by the bucketload, who are clearly trying to create a body of work to be proud of and who have an excellent ear for melody. In lead singer Melisa Bony they have someone who could be a star of Rock for years to come. Their use of imagery is excellent and Melisa can definitely sing and them some! My only reservation is who does this band want to be? Do they want to appeal to a hardcore audience or a wide audience? They have the capability to do both but right now it feels like they’re not sure themselves where they want to go.

If their ambition is wider then they need to downplay the male vocals which seem to be more at place in Hardcore Metal and which don’t always mesh with the lead singers vocals. If they want to be more Hardcore they probably need to downplay Melisa a bit and play up the harder side of their sound. Personally I think they should go the former route, this is a band who have the potential to be huge and a big breakout, the kind of band who could do an Evanescence and find a bigger audience.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the combination works but not in every song, occasionally the juxtaposition of Melissa’s melodic and powerful voice with the harshness of the male vocalist sounds tremendous, I’m not suggesting they lose the harsher vocals altogether, just that they a used more sparingly for greater impact, 'Unstoppable' is a prime example of where the combination works and enhances the song.

Another example of what could be done is the song they have brought in a collaborative vocalist, 'Afterlife', it just works. It feels like kind of song that could trouble the mainstream charts, not just the Rock charts.

The use of imagery throughout and the atmosphere created is excellent. There are songs that feel almost cinematic in scope, the band are incredibly tight and the willingness to experiment with different soundscapes and the use of unexpected restraint at times shows the excellent musical instincts this band have.

I thoroughly enjoyed this album. I think Ad Infinitum could be massive, there is something here that feels like it could explode but I think they need to decide that’s what they want. If their ambition is to be more Hardcore they have a great future there as well. The third album, and I really hope there is one, is going to be really, really interesting!