These Canadians certainly have made up for lost time when it comes to their studio output in this second incarnation of Infrared. Since reforming in 2014, Manifestation is the fourth full-length record – beyond two EP releases – over the course of the last ten years. Fortunate to follow their work since Saviours back in 2018, it’s been a tough climb to separate themselves beyond those classic crossover meets Bay Area thrash influences in style, tones, and songwriting perspectives. Much of the same attack appears on these twelve tracks again, where the hooks, main riffs, and vocal delivery / melodies just fence sit in that space between adequacy or apathy, depending on your familiarity for this genre.
A robust bass tone from Mike Forbes elevates certain tracks like “Demon’s Blood” or “My Dreams Are Real” into solid heavy arrangements – the latter galvanizing a lot of that old punk-ish angst next to an interesting mid-tempo, Forbidden meets Death Angel transition, drummer Al Groulx adding a bit of Lombardo-esque ride cymbal accents next to his main foundational duties. When the guitar work locks into more of a slightly modern, crunchy position, it opens up alternate melodic vocals or savage background accompaniment – “Nikko” a standout in this regard, Armin Kamal sinister in his growl to smooth clean switch-ups that mirror the shape shifting, stair-step stacked rhythms. Early Anthrax infiltrates “Concuss” riff-wise, while early Flotsam and Jetsam bass flow penetrates back half favorite “Parasite Patrol” – but these moments seem fleeting next to conventional gang-like vocals and less than stellar lead break spotlights that are haphazard in execution. One cannot fault the production, mixing, or mastering skills held in house by Armin, as he certainly knows how to give the band a full sound that jumps from your speakers.
Infrared continues marching to the influences that originate from the mid to late 80s in the crossover, power/thrash realms – and there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you have something special to say. Manifestation is another example of semi-quality riffs and obvious musical abilities just veering off into average songwriting and predictability that won’t vault the band into more households beyond their Canadian stomping grounds.