Album Review: Replicant – “Infinite Mortality” (Dissonant Death Metal)

Written by Kep

I listen to a lot of metal. I listen to it a lot. So much so that I’m pretty sure my wife has accepted it as part of the permanent background to her life. Rare is the band, though, that can make enough of impression to jump out amongst the sea of heavy shit I listen to and make her say, unprompted, “I like this,” and then, later, again unprompted, “I really, really like this.” The Kep’s Wife Stamp of “Damn That’s Good” list is short. Immolation’s on it. Now, so too is Replicant. 

Do you care what my wife thinks? Maybe not (but you probably should, because she’s wicked smart and way cooler than me). But you’re here, which means you care at least a little bit about what I think, and I think one thing about this new Replicant album: it’s pretty much flawless. 

This is the New Jersey outfit’s third full-length album, following 2018’s Negative Life and 2021’s Malignant Reality, which you may remember me loving. Watching their trajectory has been a damn treat, as they’ve taken their grimy brand of weird death metal ugliness and refined it over the years. Malignant Reality felt like a watershed moment; it was their Transcending Obscurity coming out party, with a good PR push, and gained them a glut of new fans. Hell, as I write this Replicant is headlining a big European tour with Anachronism in support. But this record—THIS record—is the one that should cement them as a household name for fans of extreme music. 

Infinite Mortality is the pure distillation of all that’s made their previous work great. It’s enormous and destructive, dissonant and violent, quirky and wonderfully weird; and it does it all with more stank face-inducing groove than ever. These tracks are as addictive as they are punishing. Opener “Acid Mirror” gets the party started with thick crunching riffage, frontman Mike Gonçalves’ trademark animalistic bellows (their clear similarities to Steeve Hurdle’s vocals remain a delight), and a merciless battery of drums. There’s a big ol’ jagged riff that sounds like a huge spiked iron ball barreling down a hill and a solo that writhes and stretches rubberband-like in every direction. Bonecrushing grooves abound—the one at 3:40 is downright murderous and one of my favorite moments in music in 2024 so far—but Replicant keeps it a little weird, too, with a brief eerie interlude and a postlude that bounces toward second track “Shrine to the Incomprehensible”. 

The best part about listening to Infinite Mortality is that every track is just as fun and addictive. Lead guitarist Peter Lloyd continually tosses pinches, chirps, squawks, and funny little alarm-like tones into his playing; they aren’t just decoration either, often acting as integral parts of memorable riffs, as they do in the opening of “Shrine”. The Negativa and middle-era Gorguts influences are clear, though focused here through a more brutal, less progressive and experimental lens. The riffs, especially song openers, hit like a freight train and get stuck in your skull, whether they’re more straightforward OSDM-influenced (“Nekrotunnel”), massive pinch-adorned chugfests (“Dwelling on the Threshold”), or pinballing forces of unresting energy set up by jutting dissonance (“Pain Enduring”). Your attention will be grabbed and held by force by passages like the unbelievable thick groovy chugs at 1:40 of “Orgasm of Bereavement” and the unhinged slamming stomps around 1:50 of “Reciprocal Abandonment”. 

Album closer “Planet of Skin” is an impressive track as well, finishing things in horrific and awesome fashion. At 9:11 it’s the longest track in their discography and takes a notably unhurried tack, even in comparison to Malignant Reality’s “The Ubiquity of Time”, another long closer. The themes and riffs develop slower, it feels grand even as it’s oppressively heavy, and its final stretch is so filthy it’ll make you queasy. It’s a damn stunner, and an amazing way to end their best record yet. 

On top of all that, Infinite Mortality sounds fucking fantastic from a production standpoint—literally as good as it possibly could. So it was no surprise for me to check the credits and find AJ Viana listed for mixing, mastering, and drum engineering. The Hath/Cognitive drummer is one of the hottest names in metal production if you ask me, and just knows how to balance a record’s parts the right way. Clarity, depth and size of sound, chunky guitars with searing edges and big steely bass, a full mix that isn’t overdone: it’s ideal. Viana gets particularly clean and organic sounds out of a drumkit, and James Applegate’s stellar performance here shows it. He’s the rock, and the balance of low bass drum power against bright clarity in the cymbals makes everything go. 

THE BOTTOM LINE

Nobody out there sounds like Replicant, and Replicant is officially at the top of their game. Infinite Mortality is their best work so far, an enormous destructive machine dripping blood and oil that will crush you between its horrible steel jaws. It’s focused, quirky, and hideous as can be, filled with groove that’s more infectious than the plague. Get this one in your ears ASAP.