Review Summary: A bizarre flirtation with modern progressive metal elements helps Infinite avoid being a forgettable exercise in thrash-by-numbers, with mixed results.
Minneapolis speed metal band Powermad's brief period of activity at the end of the 80s bore fruit with the melodic, intricate Absolute Power. With unusually good melodic vocals, commanding guitar leads and huge production by thrash standards, it was an underground classic that situated them tidily between tech-thrash bands like
Toxik and
Forbidden and the US Power-Metal movements sculpted by
Sanctuary,
Jag Panzer and
Vicious Rumors. Much like many of their contemporaries, they faded from sight during the 90s before returning in the late-2000s.
Contrary to most thrash comeback albums, their 2015 effort Infinite takes a lot of risks and feels like an advancement in both technicality and extremity. With renowned
Soilwork drummer Dirk Verbeuren on deck, along with the questionable choice of using 8 string guitars, Powermad lean into some modern-death metal features in their guitar and rhythm work, whilst maintaining the same vocal style from Absolute Power. The overall result is not too far off the basic sound of
Nevermore, but it does somewhat stumble due to inconsistent implementation. The blast beats and death metal tremolo picking is overall welcome and does provide a nice X-factor in comparison to many of the more restrained thrash bands out there.
Quite frankly, the basic thrash parts of this album are absolutely nothing special. The riffs are very generic and not especially hooky or technical, and sound phoned in when compared to their ventures into more extreme or progressive territory. Opener
Army of One really isn't up to much until its chorus where some rapid tremolo picking provides a smooth, majestic backdrop for the melodic vocals.
My Day of Demons is at least heavier, with some 7 string implementation, but is no more creative and is equally forgettable.
Souls Descending again briefly stands out with some cool 8 string riffs in the chorus, but little else.
Thankfully, some tracks maintain the more modernized sound from end to end.
By a Thread is generally more intricate, frantic and dynamic, with some dissonant parts and interesting harmonic chord changes that interact well with the vocals.
Forest is steady, melodic and more vocally oriented, with tasteful implementation of some harmonies and some brief 7 and 8 string use in the solo that add extra dynamics and depth to the rhythms.
I Am Infinite's Dirk Blast propelled verses and rather more substantial use of the extended range guitars helps make it likely the most original track on the album, with the extra technical edge and greater variety of drum parts helping to make it the major standout.
The World Is Turning Without You similarly distances itself from the more mediocre thrash tracks with an extra technical edge and some rather impressive Warrel Dane impersonations during the chorus.
Irrelevant has the most obvious modern metal influences, with the tense dissonance of Enemies of Reality-era Nevermore combined with a breakdown and ambient lead section; whilst clumsy in execution, there are more good ideas than any of the thrash tracks present.
On Infinite Powermad clearly desired to take their sound in a direction more like Nevermore and other modern-power/progressive metal bands, but perhaps they felt obliged to include thrashier parts as well. As a result there are a bunch of pretty boring thrash metal elements that don't work with their overall style thrown in with a more interesting variety of progressive metal tropes. The occasional flash of greatness in these parts and the generally strong songwriting competence of Powermad help to keep Infinite on the rails.
