Living in the land of the Metal...Goddesses is sometimes tough for some, a definite no way for others and a pleasant stay for a lot of metalheads who love female fronted bands. I personally find Metal to be a multicolored field where no restrictions should be set as to who sings what and if that who is a woman or a man. Someone doesn't have to be a man or a woman to be able to sing Metal/Rock, it just requires will and balls (not actual ones...). So, when it comes down to bands like Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, The Gathering, Leaves' Eyes, Arch Enemy or even...Heart, Girlschool, Vixen, Doro etc...it's cool by me, cause they all Rock (in their own unique way)!
Of Infinity is (yup, you guessed right) a female fronted Melodic Metal band from San Antonio, Texas (U.S.A.) and what I'm reviewing is 3-song/demo CD Alessandra Zinicola (Vocals, Pianos & Synths) has kindly provided me with.
You know, I have to admit that many times I'm a bit hesitative before inserting a demo into my CD player. Yeah I know it's an unfair thought but except for all the great stuff I receive from time to time I also get a lot of rubbish. And when a Demo sucks, I usually don't want to review it (I'm not talking about if it's mediocre or a bit bad, I'm talking about really bad Demos) because it would just be worse for the band if I criticized their work (and I only do that with regular releases).
On the contraire, Of Infinity's The Essence Of Infinity was a most pleasant musical experience for me. Why?
The band blends a medieval feeling with powerful female vocals, classical organs (such as the violin, the piano and the classic guitar), heavy riffs, hard drumming, a fulfilling bass guitar and an very good synth atmosphere.
The Voice Without is a powerful first track, with fast outbreaks and calm mid-spaces and I could easily compare it to Theater Of Tragedy's Aegis, mood-wise, and The Gathering (generally). Now, to my surprise, the second track (Shadow Of The Lie) reminds me a bit of Cruachan's (Irish band) Folk-Metal style with a small dose of The Gathering on the vocals. Quite interesting song indeed, especially the violin tunes performed by Berklee College of Music educated violinist, Emily Hesterman (awesome violin intros/outros!).
The last song on this demo, It's Only For Forever, has a nostalgic feeling combining bluesy guitars with a mellow piano, excellent lyrics and Alessandra's amazing voice...a wonderful song overall.
Concluding, in my opinion if a Label's scout is smart enough, he'll sign Of Infinity because this band's bound to succeed if given the necessary means to create their music the way they exactly want to do it (a good studio for a better production - Oh, the production could have been better but we're talking about a Demo here, not Nightwish's latest album). Mark my words: These musicians have talent, skills and a vision. A promising future lies ahead of them.
P.S. Creative writer and John Steinbeck Award winner Paul Greulich helped compose most of the lyrics...and they're awesome!