{"id":985185,"date":"2026-08-06T19:37:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T19:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/985185\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T19:37:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T19:37:19","slug":"review-aenigmatum-infinitudes-passage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/985185\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: \u00c6nigmatum – Infinitude\u2019s Passage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published by Andy<\/strong><\/a> on 2026\/08\/062026\/08\/06<\/p>\n

\"\"Artwork by: Daniel Hermosilla<\/a><\/p>\n

Style: Progressive Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, Progressive Black Metal (Harsh Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Death, Blood Incantation, Obscura<\/a>, Ulcerate, The Chasm, Blut Aus Nord<\/a>
Country: United States
Release date: 31 July 2026<\/p>\n

I take pride in not listening to singles. While I understand that a band needs to generate hype and awareness of their record, using the single as a means of attention seeking, there is a sacredness to experiencing a full album, as the artist intended. I also find that developing a relationship to some material before the final package leads to an imbalance in my first impressions of the work. Because of this, I respect bands who eschew album release cycle norms by dropping their works unannounced to the world until posted to streaming services, forcing weak-willed singles listeners to respect the LP format. An unanticipated album can work wonderfully; in 2024, my album of the year, Pyrrhon<\/strong>\u2019s Exhaust<\/a>, was one such example. And last Friday, I woke up to an email from 20 Buck Spin that Oregon\u2019s progressive technical death metal band \u00c6nigmatum<\/strong> dropped their third album out of the blue. What a pleasant surprise.<\/p>\n

The last \u00c6nigmatum<\/strong> album, 2021\u2019s Deconsecrate<\/a>, thrived in the space between old-school progressive death metal (late-era Death<\/strong>, Atheist<\/strong>) and more modern, slimy takes on the style (Ulcerate<\/strong>, Gorguts<\/strong>), with nasty blackened twists. Deconsecrate <\/strong>had no shortage of intricate grooves and interlocking guitar parts; Infinitude\u2019s Passage continues where \u00c6nigmatum<\/strong> left off. Like many modern bands, \u00c6nigmatum<\/strong> tend to alternate between rapidly mutating technical sections and slower atmospheric, melodic ones, but the band also deftly avoids cliche with smart songwriting. Absolutely restless, Pierce Williams\u2019s drumming rarely lays off the blast beats, with enough creative, fast-paced fills to make Hannes Grossmann proud; he\u2019s the secret weapon staving off bland atmospheric sections. Whenever the strings shift from pummeling-riff mode into strange-chordal-phrasing mode, Williams is still attacking the kit\u2014emphasizing tentacular, cymbally fills and fractal descents down to the double bass\u2014giving the melodic parts a half-time feel rather than killing the album\u2019s momentum. Unlike Deconsecrate, Infinitude\u2019s Passage doesn\u2019t have an instrumental filler track at its midpoint, further contributing to a flawless, omnipresent push of momentum.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

With natural flow, \u00c6nigmatum<\/strong> carefully balance catchy, headbangable riffs with uber-technical sections, helping the album feel varied despite its relatively oblique style. All throughout Infinitude\u2019s Passage, guitarists Eli Lundgren and Kelly McLaughlin duel, as ophidian tremolos clash with typically frantic technical death metal riffs (\u201cPitiless Mechanism,\u201d \u201cA Tarnished Nexus\u201d) or unsettling solos straight from R\u2019lyeh filter into Revocation<\/strong>-inspired thrashy grooves (\u201cInseverable,\u201d \u201cNocturne of Ageless Reverie\u201d). But \u00c6nigmatum<\/strong>\u2019s calling card is the sickening dissonance caused by Lundgren and McLaughlin\u2019s propensity for clashing in strange intervals\u2014although like Ulcerate<\/strong>, cracks of melody shine through brightly, especially when the duo teams together for harmonized solos. \u201cPitless Mechanism\u201d opens with punishing blackened death metal that is at once clean but with skronky picked parts left in, before the track has tremolos panting in Ad Nauseam<\/strong>-esque dissonance. Other tracks have guitars exploring the soundscape in strange time signatures like Lovecraftian gods (\u201cInseverable,\u201d \u201cNocturne of the Ageless Reverie\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The production of Infinitude\u2019s Passage, unsurprisingly handled by Colin Marston, is airy and bright, with supreme clarity allowing for the warring guitars\u2019 conversational debates to not overwhelm each other. Additionally, the bass cuts through the complicated web of guitars and relentless drumming to join the knotted instrumental insanity\u2014making the balanced production all the more impressive. Many of the album\u2019s best moments are when the bass takes the lead, such as the solo opening \u201cArchitects of the Fated\u201d and the one before the false ending of \u201cInseverable.\u201d Brian Rush\u2019s bass also gives the album most of its heft by bolstering the low end; the rest of the band, despite all the tasteful grooves and powerful riffs, doesn\u2019t necessarily hit with that much power because the drums don\u2019t have the punchiest mix\u2014not a bad thing, per se, but something to note. The vocals are subdued not only in the mix but also the performance. Shared by four members, they stay in a low-range growl, interspersed with superfluous spoken word parts. Moreover, one cannot even find the lyrics online\u2014what a uniquely metal phenomenon. The only major hiccup for \u00c6nigmatum <\/strong>is that the closing title track features an incredibly pointless smooth jazz saxophone solo near the end; I just wrote a whole review<\/a> talking about how tedious that trend has been for the previous near-decade. The sax is a bland and banal clincher to what is a brilliant proggy blackened tech death album.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sax aside, Infinitude\u2019s Passage was one of the best surprises this year has offered, with a wide variety of dizzying riffs and absurd solos. Not only should more bands take after \u00c6nigmatum<\/strong>\u2019s bold release style, they should aim to reach the technical and production excellence of this well-oiled machine. I\u2019ll be patiently waiting for the next \u00c6nigmatum<\/strong> release\u2014I hope it catches me by surprise.<\/p>\n

Recommended tracks: Pitless Mechanism, Inseverable, A Tarnished Nexus
You may also like: Tomb Mold, Horrendous<\/a>, VoidCeremony<\/a>, StarGazer, Aethereus<\/a>, Inanna, Egregore, Bekor Qilish<\/a>, The Great Old Ones<\/a>, Vale of Pnath
Final verdict: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Related links: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Label: 20 Buck Spin<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00c6nigmatum<\/strong> is:
\u2013 Kelly McLaughlin \u2013 Vocals\/Guitar\/Bass Clarinet
\u2013 Eli Lundgren \u2013 Guitar
\u2013 Brian Rush \u2013 Bass\/Backup Vocals
\u2013 Pierce Williams \u2013 Drums\/Synths\/Backup Vocals
With guests<\/strong>:
\u2013 Patrick Corona \u2013 Saxophone
\u2013 Danny Quetzal \u2013 Backup Vocals<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n