BARE INFINITY, a Symphonic Metal band, was born in late summer of 2005 in Athens, Greece. The band released their debut album in 2009 and followed that up with an EP release in 2011 leading to touring outside of Greece. In 2012 the band reset and completely changed their line-up up. They came back strong in 2014 and now have released their latest album "The Butterfly Raiser". This album comes in with 12 tracks and a listening time of just under an hour.

The opening track "Race of Destiny" comes in lightly and increases over a period of about 20 seconds until the symphonics burst forth. The guitar work is phenomenal. They keys are incredible and the female vocals are angelic, but are much lower than the usual Symphonic Metal female lead, making her exceedingly easier to listen to. This five minute beauty is riddled with masterful guitar work, impressive key work, and vocals that soar high without being too opera-esque.

"Atremis", track two, comes in with some flute work, that raises this album to another level. Now the mix of Folk and Symphonic Metal isn't really new. However, the elements in this case create a wonderful new sound, in just the first seven seconds. Whoa, that's good stuff. Vocals are dark and spoken in the intro. Then rise even more exaggerated folk elements and harder drums. Clean sung vocals bring this track to its final, but not only, glory. The guitar solo at four minutes is worthy of noting here.

Title track, "The Butterfly Raiser", starts off dream-like with that fairy-folk feeling. The Folk Metal style stays center stage. The vocals are the focal point of most of this track. while she is singing, the music is light and airy. During the course the music becomes harder, but while the vocalist is mute, the music really hits hard and it's pretty magical.

"Sands Of Time", track six, is a bit harder but it showcases the bouzouki. An instrument brought to Greece in the 1900's by immigrants from Asia Minor and is similar to the mandolin, but a pitch lower. So, how is it a lower track with a bouzouki? Well, the elements around this instrument are gothic, so the beauty of the bouzouki stands out remarkably well. The music becomes harder, but it moves along just the same. The track is beautiful. There are gothic elements that bring the Symphonic Metal sound back to the forefront.

Track eight, "Orion's Light" is a bit harder and has an incredible depth to it. The guitars are unbelievable and it feels like you're in the middle of an orchestral treasure. There are some male companion vocals here, which bring a small, yet glorious, contrast to the track. There are also additional female companion vocals enhancing the tracks depth that much more. This track feels like a mid- battle composition.  If you are looking for a lot of male vocal contrast, look no farther than track nine "Ashes". The contrast between his deep understandable growls and her vocals is phenomenal. This is another track that has an incredible emotional effect on the listener.

The final track, "The Sword, The Stone, and The Wolf", starts of more acoustic but there is an energy that lets you know it will take off. There is a more folk feeling in the beginning of this track that changes off into a more Symphonic feel. The mixture of both is perfectly integrated. The flow and the switching and switch back again is crazy good. This is a great ending to an intense album.

BARE INFINITY's "The Butterfly Raiser" is a beautiful piece that explores genre pushing boundaries, but still keeps firm in their Symphonic ways. Every bit of musical elements in this album are masterfully created and keep you interested. This is an A+ album.