With forced time available to me due to my home internet not working last week, it was just what I needed as Infected Rain’s sixth studio album, Time was released. Their effort resonated not only on a first world level but on a mental, physical, and spiritual level.
While time may seem like an endless loop for some, it is a finite source for beings that live and die. How much time each being has is unknown and what we do with it is our choosing. Through Time’s twleve tracks, Infected Rain explores love and the various emotions it provides a soul, self empowerment, freedom, and more.
When I first heard Infected Rain, it was through a Spotify playlist years ago. I was hooked by the harsh vocals of Lena Scissorhands, but at the time, I wasn’t a big fan of her clean vocals. Don’t get me wrong, they were great, but I just wanted heavy, demon summoning, blood curling vocals. In my humble opinion, her harsh vocals are the epitome of ‘a woman scorned’. They are angry, violent, and possess an innate feeling of hostility, malice, and savagery.
But Lena’s clean vocals and the softer side of Infected Rain seeped into my heart and I discovered that I enjoyed their brutally softer side as much as I did their heavier side so when they announced Time was on the horizon, I was anticipating the wonderful duality of the band to shine.
And shine it did.
With singles, “Because I Let”, “Dying Light”, “Vivarium”, and “Lighthouse” leading the charge ahead of the Time’s release, the songs showed the foursome had toughened their harder side and were more vulnerable in their softer side.
It’s this yin and yang that makes Infected Rain masters of their art. Whether the band is punching one in the guts with bombastic rhythms or offering a comforting hand, they do so with a sense of humble grace.
Time shows the growth of Infected Rain as musicians and as humans. The album is wonderfully heavy where it needs to be and soft when needed. Time offers an ethereal passage through progressive grooves, infectious guitars, and thundering drums, but where the album shines the most is in its lyrics and how Lena delivers them is impactful and meaningful. She delivers the messages in a way that hits at the heart of the listener. Sometimes cruel. Sometimes humane. But no matter how she and the band decide, the message is clear – Time is not something we can overcome, but Time is something we can all learn from.
MUST LISTEN TRACKS: All twelve tracks
