Iterum Nata - From The Infinite Light

Angry Metal Guy

Another week, another genre mashup for Iceberg, the frozen fringe-dweller. After a disappointing—and apparently controversial—dive into more straightforward waters, I was excited to spy the black/neofolk/prog tag on the newest release from Finnish one-man band Iterum Nata. Jesse Heikkinen spent some time with countrymen and fellow genre-blenders Hexvessel before striking out on his own, and this will mark his fifth solo release. After reading the heady concept of “…the birth of Darkness and Death” and eyeing a paparazzi picture of Dear Hollow on his lunch break, I hoped to find something new and untamed in From The Infinite Light. But whether or not Heikkennen can deliver on his patchwork of styles remains to be seen.

Those of you familiar with Hexvessel will have a good idea of the jumping-off point of Iterum Nata’s sound. There’s a strong element of psychedelic folk here, albeit darker and moodier than Heikkinen’s previous outfit: “Nights in White Satin” is a good reference. Much of the album is driven by acoustic guitar—standard and 12-string—and Heikkinen’s vocal styling reminds me of Roger Waters at times, Nick Cave at others. Iterum Nata augment their acoustic core with bookends of black metal (“This Gleaming Eternity,” “The Crown of All”) and a surprisingly deep bench of auxiliary instruments. Except the spoken word voice overs and some guest spots on “A Darkness Within,” it seems Heikkinen is responsible for the totality of the performances, and his work is solid enough to convince me I’m listening to a group as opposed to a one-man band.

From the Infinite Light by Iterum Nata

From The Infinite Light’s greatest strength is its ability to transport the listener into the dark, nightmarish forest of Heikkinen’s imagination, and to do it in the fewest steps possible. “Overture Limitless Light” opens the curtain on a deranged vaudevillian troupe, reminiscent of Danny Elfman’s orchestral output, and is the best example of Heikkinen’s use of strange and unnerving colors. There’s a tendency to subvert expectations with chord progressions and melodies, shifting notes or chords ever so slightly, or changing to an unexpected key, giving the music an uneasy, slithering quality (“A Manifested Nightmare,” “Ambrosia,” “The Drifter”). “Ambrosia” is an album highlight, a simple minimalist ballad built around a gorgeous descending melody featuring a single lowered pitch that stuck with me long after I had passed through it. While I found the narrative a bit difficult to follow, there is a palpable sense of momentum here, with the black metal tracks acting as beginning and end, sentinels of dissonance guarding the gates of the mystical woodlands through which our hero journeys. The final track is particularly unhinged, with Heikinnen throwing everything at his drum and guitar performances. It comes a little off the rails, but within context the insanity is effective and a fitting close to the record.

As enchanting as From The Infinite Light is, there is still room for improvement. Heikinnen’s previous effort Trench of Loneliness was almost exclusively psych-folk, so the inclusion of black metal at all is relatively new, but I think it can be integrated further still. While there’s a structural argument to be made for confining the trems and blasts to the open and close, the center of the album sags due to the homogeneity of instrumentation, tempo and atmosphere. And as beautiful as I found the mix in its support of a kaleidoscope of instruments, I thought the vocals were often muddied in the back-center of the soundscape; more clarity would be helpful for a narrative album with all-clean vocals. That being said, after multiple focused listens I found myself straining for more criticism, a credit to Heikinnen’s deft use of trimmed resources to craft his record. Simplicity of material is often a double-edged blade for one-man acts, but it’s resulted in a complexity of expression for Iterum Nata that reveals maturity and skill.

I feel my final score may undersell From The Infinite Light, though that’s not my intention. Iterum Nata clearly made a strong step forward from their previous record, but the takeaway from my time with this album was that the best is yet to come. Heikinnen is well-positioned to continue his one-man metal act—I think of The Reticent in the same regard—but I’d like for him to push even further past the safety of psychedelic folk and into newer, darker, heavier, more alien sound worlds. Fans of folk or atmospheric metal will find much to like here; Iterum Nata has woven a delicate tapestry of darkness and light, well worth the price of admission.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Nordvis Produktion | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com | Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: March 15, 2024

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