Faust - From Glory to Infinity

October 18, 2009

Reviewer: Kesh

You would think that a band that sings about anti-Christian themes and hails from Italy, land of the Vatican and center of Roman Catholicism, would be a little more brutal. While the album is very much in the vein of Morbid Angel, Death and possibly a little of Deicide, I can’t say I’m very impressed. The album is well-played and listenable, but I don’t think it is one that I am going to rush out and buy for myself, but I know a few people whom I think might like it.

If you are looking for a band that is an unspirited clone of Morbid Angel, Faust will fill your needs quite nicely. In my mind, there is nothing exceptional here - a sad disappointment once you investigate further into the band’s lineage. The album’s only real shortcoming (it’s a big one though) is the production, which seems to have scoured out the aggression and rawness one comes to expect from the more traditional death metal vein. A very big deal when you are discussing death metal in general.

And just because you place a blasphemous looking nude on the front of your album (it’s a crucified nun), it doesn’t mean that you’re going to get your point across. And unfortunately Faust, although fronted by Ancient’s Aleister and supported by a death metal who’s-who (this includes Ghiulz, Steve DiGiorgio and Darek Brozozowski), doesn’t pack the punch that one comes to expect from a band claiming that they are death metal. In other words: there’s no brutality or venom coming through on the album.

Let’s take the song “Servants of Morality” as an example. While this song has great riffs, sound lyrics and excellent musicianship, the production quality makes it sound watered-down and almost sterile, which is tragic, considering this would be a killer song if it had a little bit of rowdiness behind it. Death metal should have a more chaotic feel to it, and From Glory to Infinity falls painfully short of this expectation, coming off more neat and clean than I think was intended and causing the album to be lower than the expectations set by the eye catching album art work. One positive aspect I would like to note about this album is the exceptional use of acoustic guitars on a few of the songs. If they had made a folksy/acoustic album, I would be more sold on Faust.

If the production on this album had been more unique and less cookie-cutter, I would be able to give it a better rating and feel good about it. Musically, Faust is well stated, their themes are hardcore and in your face, and the lyrics are great. I just can’t get past the feeling that they were pulling their punches, causing me to feel a little short-changed in listening to this album. My advice to Faust: don’t hold back next time and you won’t come off as a poor man’s Deicide.

Release Date: September 9, 2009
Label: Paragon Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Purple Children
2.  Wet Veils
3.  Sentimental Worship
4.  Golden Wine Countess
5.  Servants Of Morality
6.  Carnal Beatitude
7.  Pig God Dog
8.  Holy Hole
9.  A Religion-Free World´s Dream

Total playing time: 40:25

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