In all my years of writing reviews I have never experienced the like of the build up to the release of Scottish duo Boards of Canada’s fifth album Inferno. Leaving the promo issuance to mere days before release, the stream would only play three times before self-destructing. With an expansive run time and a whopping 18 tracks there’s no way to do justice to putting down some words for this album, based on only three plays. Trying to put these shenanigans behind me I’m unusually behind in getting my thoughts out there on this highly anticipated music. Does it live up to the hype? Apparently not in some quarters, but I’m approaching the music without bias.
Opening introductory piece ‘Introit’ sounds like the theme music to some 70s science show. I’ll try not use this analogy too much in my review as this atmospheric is a recurring theme. The drop of crisp drums and guitar at the start of ‘Prophecy At 1420 MHz’ is just glorious, a perfect moment and deeply satisfying. There’s a wondrous clarity in the synthetised sounds that have an attractive glossy sheen. A robotic voice brings a futuristic terror especially when it stutters out of control on the word “c-c-c-consciousness”.
(Probably not) inspired by Nirvana and Mastodon, ‘Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan’ has a brooding tension and a swirling synth melody line that makes me visualise an abandoned fairground. ‘Age of Capricorn’ could be Mogwai in synth mode save for the kooky sampled voice spewing out letters and the occasional “Marvellous”. The chanting voices that rise up provide a haunting, yet brilliant hymnal presence and the first religious connotations are thrust into the mix. ‘Father And Son’ finally breaks the dam as the weirdest samples and out-there tones gush forth on a psychedelic wave. The spoken word samples are exquisitely positioned and make for a deeply unsettling soundscape. When the seismic bass line drops it’s another wow moment as the hairs stand on my neck.
‘Somewhere Right Now In The Future’ pulls us back from the choppy chaos with some warped swirling synths and guitars forming a woozy dreamland. ‘Naraka’ packs a mighty punch with some hefty percussion and a throbbing bass hum. There’s a pleasing warmth to the synth melody that flows into a marvellous twisted Hare-Krishna chant. It’s just sublime as you become completely absorbed in the transcendental moment. Reminds me of Transglobal Underground. ‘Memory Death’ pulls in some Sabres of Paradise style wheezing atmospherics but is more of a soundscape than a tangible track.
Another religious reference comes with bible borrowed ‘The Word Becomes Flesh’. How it manages to become a biology lesson is anyone’s guess! But those chopped up samples over a robo-funk workout are a work of genius. ‘Into The Magic Land’ leans heavily into the Mogwai sound again with shimmering synths and haunting guitars making for a ghostly carnival of melody. ‘Blood In The Labyrinth’ is a morose cinematic soundscape that keeps things simple but no less dramatic. As a breathless voice gasps for air while issuing final words it’s chilling.
Sneaked out ahead of the release the renamed ‘Deep Time’ remains one of the saddest pieces of music I have ever heard. The moment at 1.40 when the melody shifts is a genuinely beautiful moment like sun rays breaking through the clouds. It’s like the music you imagine playing when you leave this mortal coil. ‘All Reason Departs’ finds you arrive from the beauty of the previous track in some form of boogie hell as whispered voices writhe with a kooky percussive groove.
If I am to have any negative thoughts on Inferno, it does suffer from a little excess in places, and the skittering ‘Arena Americanada’ doesn’t sound as good as its title might infer. Sensing the impending closure of this magnum opus it feels like the band dumped in a few filler tracks. Maybe I’m just not appreciative of the more experimental soundscapes Boards of Canada dabble in. No matter, ‘The Process’ has nothing to hang on to in terms of melody, until the start of the third minute when it begins to fade out.
Penultimate track ‘You Retreat In Time And Space’ thankfully gets us back into the melodic realms with a beautiful, dreamy sequence of synths that once again brings images of cloudbursts and gives the listener a true feeling that all is not lost. Everything is going to be okay. Finally, ‘I Saw Through Platonia’ ends this astounding journey with a sweeping track that layers up ethereal synths over a heartbeat pulsing beat. It’s good to have Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin creating music together again.
When I discussed the charade of mystery that went with the build-up to this release with an electronic music aficionado buddy, he pointed out that the love fans have for their music is like a cult. With my interest in the band not at that level (I had Geogaddi on CD) I found myself feel a stronger urge to hear this new album. By way of research, I went back through their previous albums which was wise as I think I became more accepting to what I was going to hear. Longterm fans will be in raptures at exploring new sounds they probably thought they would never get. New fans will want to invest time in their previous creations. Inferno is a worthy addition to their wondrous back catalogue. It’s good to have Boards of Canada back, don’t leave us waiting so long in future.
