Infected - Crawlspace (1994)

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In their time one of Perth's biggest metal bands, Infected were known for their ferocious live shows and unique interpretation of metal. Although Death Metal at their core, Infected seemed to generate their sound from different influences than the more contempory and better known deathmetal bands of the era. To my ears they sound similar in some ways to Six Feet Under, but only in the slower moments, certainly in other ways they sound miles away from that. Take The Amenta and strip them of the computer-generated soundwall of violent white noise and the distorted vocals, and you are more in the ballpark of the Infected sound on "Crawlspace".
There is a definate Industrial metal flavour here, but they journey far off the well-beaten track that such bands of the genre as NIN, Ministry and Misery Lovesco have found their way down. Maybe the old guard of industrial is closer, I can find similarities between Infected and such bands as Pitchshifter and the true pioneers of Industrial, Killing Joke... but on this CD such influences and the death metal stylings of bands such as Entombed are equidistant. It's a hard one.

With their use of keyboards used in moments but not integrally, the use of samples here and there, the occasional use of clean vocals and the periodic slowdowns, there is only one band I can point at as a having a definately similar style. This band is "Soul of a New Machine" era Fear Factory, and chronologically speaking, this is very likely. The "Soul of a new Machine" parallel leaps forth again as their song "Self-Immolation" is remixed on "Fear is the MindKiller" and I personal think it was better than the original, while "Assililation" by Crawspace is given the same treatment to with an equally imporessive result. And yet again the conjuction between the bands; the opening quote on "Crawlspace" is a line from the Sci-Fi classic "Dune", the same place that Fear Factory found the title of their remix album. There is a pattern here, but despite these obvious connections, there is enough difference between the two bands to ask the question: did Infected follow Fear Factory to the creation of their sound, or did Infected and Fear Factory reach this point in their journey independantly?

Before I go on, let me just say that the lyrics of this album are probably some of the best I have read from a local band, they are neither hackneyed or generic, are emotive and thoughtful and are well crafted to fit the music. They also seem to have been written with the vocal style in mind, because the delivery, timing and diction flow beautifully together. The best part of the album for sure in my opinion.

The guitar sound on "Crawlspace" would suit a modern grind band, and the insane intros and violence of the music helps to create that vibe, but you can forget any hope of the lyrical content helping to perpetuate that image. There are songs where they punch it up ("Predetermined"), songs where they add strange and off-key vocals ("Rageflower"), songs where they have extremely aggressive drummings ("Crawlspace"), songs where they use unusual ambient keyboards ("Once More") and so on and so forth. Infected's "Crawlspace" is experimental metal, and far ahead of its time in Perth. In fact it could be said that Infected were GENERALLY ahead of their times, blazing inroads for other Perth bands to travel in future generations.

Like all experimental and innovative new kinds of metal, there are those who love it and those who do not. It saddens me to say it, but I didn't like this CD at all when I was young, and age may have brought me more understanding of metal and what goes into the crafting of it, but in truth I still don't really like it. I search for the right metaphor here... to me "Crawlspace" is comparable to a painting by Picasso or Dali in that it has incalculable worth to some and to others is a bunch of annoying shapes, and I guess that I am just one of those people who have trouble seeing the beauty of a chick with both her eyes on the same side of her head.
For me the mix on this CD is too abrasive, the clean vocals too disharmonic, the structuring too angular and misshapen, neither comfortable to listen to or quite angry enough to use as material for rage ventilation. I can sense that Infected created their music with an intention to challenge, confound and cause an emotional response in a way few albums can, and in some moments it certainly has that affect. The wailing child on "Predetermined" sent shivers down my spine and made me want to go and check on my children, unnerving to say the least.

It may feel like I am sinking the boots into a band that deserves more, but I mean no disrespect. I hold Infected in high esteme for their pioneering spirit and willingness to break the shackles of conformity and convention, and for the crafting of what is considered by many to be a underrated and breakthrough album. I really hope that the rest of you are able to grasp what it is that they are trying to do here, because love it or hate it, Infected's "Crawlspace" is an important part of the history of Metal in this city and should be in every Perth metal collection.

Review by Jez.