{"id":96920,"date":"2019-11-06T13:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T19:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/?p=96920"},"modified":"2019-11-05T22:23:40","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T04:23:40","slug":"vinyl-vvednesday-1349-the-infernal-pathway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/vinyl-vvednesday-1349-the-infernal-pathway\/","title":{"rendered":"Vinyl VVednesday: 1349 – The Infernal Pathway"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Norwegian black metallers 1349<\/strong>\u00a0graced the world with their seventh full-length The Infernal Pathway<\/em> on October 18th, 2019. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of most black metal, but their fast-paced\u2014often thrashy\u2014take on the genre really hits the sweet spot for this listener. The music itself is stellar, a welcome addition to the 1349 discography; alas the packaging brings with it some nitpicks. Set your turntable to 45 rpm and let’s delve into the details.<\/p>\n

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The first thing which stands out is how the tracks are arranged: four sides on this double LP, each with two to three tracks. As mentioned earlier, it does run at 45 rpm, a puzzling decision as the total runtime is less than 44 minutes (meaning it all could have easily fit onto one record). Not only will the package cost a few extra dollars for the additional raw materials required for the second record, but now I have to get up off of my couch four times to listen to the album in its entirety. (If anyone reading this understands the decision to run at 45 rpm\u2014versus the usual 33 rpm\u2014feel free to sound off in the comments.) I’m not quite sure if this is a minor gripe or a major one; thankfully, the quality of the music itself helps heal this wound.<\/p>\n

Side “1” starts off with a fast-paced, uniquely structured song called “Abyssos Antithesis” that features a frenzied guitar solo similar to the one heard on “Psalm 7:77” from their sinister 2010 release, Demonoir<\/em>. The guitar solo is a staple not overused by 1349, and so each one feels like a treat. Next is “Through the Eyes of Stone,” the first single released and a great indication that this record is going to be an improvement over the pretty-good Massive Cauldron ov Chaos<\/em>. The bizarre yet catchy riffs during the chorus remind me of some of the better songs from Hellfire<\/em>.<\/p>\n