SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: VERA GRACE – INFERNVM

VERA GRACE
INFERNVM
DEESTRICTED

Amsterdam-based Vera Grace’s debut album, Infernvm, takes us on a journey.

The words ‘Dante’s Inferno’ are used as a proxy for descent into hell. The story, which is the basis of this album, is deep and shows the side of the coin that reflects fear, anguish, betrayal, and the faces of (d)evil. Dante, accompanied by the poet Virgil, on a twisted lost weekend climb down metaphorical stairs to reach this inverted Everest.

The album gently pulls you in with a lush but foreboding invitation. Grace, drawing inspiration from hypnotic techno, then goes to work converting the rest of the album to a heavier sound.

The journey to hell is hard and harrowing and listening to this album of hard techno begs for some moments of relief; some respite. The relief comes in the form of melodic interludes, and these provide the highlights of the album. It provides the contrast to this difficult journey. “The Third Circle”, the intro to “The Seventh Circle” and “The Fourth Circle”, with its move away from the four on the floor kick are highlights of this album.

“The Ninth Circle” is the end of this journey, an industrial soundscape of resignation at where you have ended up or some kind of perverted joy at being where you have always wanted to be. The album does miss what I imagine would have been Dante and Virgil’s joy when they emerge from their hellish weekend but maybe that’s the point. Infernvm brings you to your knees, which is maybe where you should be after such a harrowing journey.

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