"The Ugly Truth" is the new album from Italian goth metal act INFERNALIZER, which is the brainchild of Claudio Ravinale who was lead vocalist for death metal band DISARMONIA MANDI. The album is heavily influenced by 80's metal acts with a good mix of gothic rock too. With all that together it makes for an interesting sound. Kicking things off we have the intro track "Night Shift". With a sense of horror and unease with some gloomy strings/synth added in it helps to build up the track "The Outsider". With this song the synth and guitar work really well together. The song gives us a real classic 80's sound with some decent riffing and a gothic vocal style and a really nice piano part for its middle section.

Next up we have the lead single "Leaving So Soon". This one opens with a cool guitar harmony with the bass and drums rumbling in after it. When the real riffing comes in it becomes a real rocking tune with aa big shout along chorus. This track has some real good hooks and a ripping guitar solo. After that we have "In Retrospect" which opens with a very IRON MAIDEN style guitar riff. This one really has it all with an anthem style chorus, thunderous drumming and a middle section that builds up to an epic finish.

The song "Cruel Intentions" is a bit of a stand out track here. It opens with what sounds like it is going to be a piano ballad but then transcends into a full blown heavy gothic rock ballad. The song has real dark beauty to it, especially with its added synth solo. After that we get the title track "The Ugly Truth" and this one really brings the heavy. It has an angry and evil sounding chorus but then breaks down to the sound of pouring rain and acoustic guitars for its middle section. And from there it just builds back up to an epic guitar solo. This is a really great song.

The next single off the album is "In this World or the Next" lures us in with these dark sounding synths. When the band comes in they sound frantic as we have very haunting sounding synth line over it. But this track really does get you moving and has a breakdown that keeps you hooked in as well. Coming towards the end of the album we have a special treat with a TYPE-O NEGATIVE cover of "I Don't Wanna Be Me". It really channels the sound of the original as both acts have a similar sound. And it is really done justice to the memory of the late great Peter Steele.

The album closes with the outer track "Autumn of Terror". Very eerie sounding synth opens with a bit of a NINE INCH NAILS feel to it. This is epic but haunting with the strings leering over and a guitar melody that keeps the same feel to it. This is a farewell for now type of track. Well there you have The Ugly Truth from INFERNALIZER and while listening to this I head banged a lot. You can really hear the influences on this with all the classic 80's style riffing and solos with a great mix of gothic synths on top to give it style. The vocals here really reminded me of WEDNESDAY 13 and 69 EYES. The songs here would be great for meshing at a gig and will even get you dancing at a heavy metal or goth club.