Faust – From Glory To Infinity (2009)

Faust is an Italian band that has been around since 1992, and this is made very clear based on the skills of most of the band members. The music is very well played, but lacks a bit on the composition department (more on that later).

I’m a big fan of Melodic Death Metal, and it’s very rare in these days to find a good band that is not going all Metalcore on us. Alongside Ethereal Collapse, Faust is one of the best bands in the genre I’ve heard this year, since the melodic aspect is brilliant.

Now for the bad part, the band seems to know how to play their instruments brilliantly and they have great ideas in their songs, however most songs are not very cohesive, some parts sound extremely disconnected and some changes are very bad. The majority of the songs seem like they are compilations of smaller fragments of different songs, or just disconnected ideas.

The element that completely throws me off in this release, is the double kick, it looks like the drummer just learned a new trick and he has to use it as much as he can, and this is not something usually bad when you have are playing let’s say Black Metal, but for Melodic Death Metal you need more depth in your double kick skills to keep the listener engaged. The other aspects of the drum track are indeed very good, it’s just the double kick that after a few songs will have you annoyed.

But that aside, the good things on this band pull the release to get a pretty solid 80 points in our rating scale. The guitar work is superb, and the solos are very well timed and executed giving that Melodic Death Metal feeling that only bands like Dark Tranquility can achieve, but they song hollow at times because of the sub par composition skills the band presents. The vocals are pretty solid raspy growls that are monotone in nature, but in the way they sound the completely fit the music, and don’t get boring. Even the bass guitar track is very enjoyable and it’s nicely mixed so you can appreciate it to perfection.

Faust is a band that has very good potential, and great ideas for brilliant melodic passages (like in most songs they feature), they just need to work more on the consistency and structure of their songs. The band also needs to take the double kick away from the drummer, or make him learn how not to abuse it, he is a pretty good drummer, but just needs to chill out and let the rest of the music flow. If you are looking for a good Melodic Death Metal album to headbang to, go and get “From Glory To Infinity”.

Release: September 9th, 2009

Country: Italy