Infinity Shred’s Forever a Fast Life is a digital renaissance.

Forever a Fast Life is a storm-force of emotions, dropping August 23rd on 3DOT Recordings.

Forever a Fast Life is delicate, nostalgic, and full of classical intricacy at times. Otherwise, it’s a storm of 8-bit composition with the sturdy background of Clara Wamaar’s frenetic percussion. Elements of five distinct genres come through Forever a Fast Life. Noticeable bits of Orchestral, 80s Pop, Post-Hardcore, Djent, and EDM weave their way throughout a vibrant musical journey.

The First Taste of Infinity Shred:

Last June, I caught Infinity Shred as a supporting act for Astronoid’s summer headliner at Allston’s iconic venue, Great Scott. Their sound hit at first like a grittier Stranger Things soundtrack and grew to fill the venue with a strange euphoria. You’re going to love Forever a Fast Life if the 80s synth and urgency of Stranger Things hit you right, but Forever a Fast Life digs so much deeper than chart-topping synths. Infinity Shred has created an album that sparks contemplation of the human condition without a single word. Forever a Fast Life is a potent dose of magic in a groaning world.

The simple cacophony of Forever a Fast Life:

It’s 2019, and many prominent bands are beginning to supercharge their sets with creative setups like Ableton and Logic. Forever a Fast Life hits me with rich backing subs and 808s reminiscent of Polyphia’s New Levels New Devils, alongside tender shards of unforgettable orchestral compositions. Infinity Shred are masters of bringing the multitude of these layers together. They fill their space, either grizzly with electronic teeth or warm and ethereal, with a complete spectrum of sound. Gargantuan bass and towering synths pour out these sweet and phenomenal chords alongside vibrant synths and digital devotions. Forever a Fast Life pushes a wordless aesthetic to dizzying emotional heights.

When the full sound of Forever a Fast Life hits you- the grunge, djent, post, AND electric teeth, it’s hard not to get jettisoned right out of one’s headphones. The peaks this band reaches feel designed to overstimulate, making for a thrill of a listen when each member comes in full-throttle. After each layer catches you in its embrace, the inverse act of stripping the sound away is just as exhilarating. Brutal Luxury and Cranemaker are fantastic examples of the push and pull this album plays with its dynamics. It’ll be one of the many aspects of Forever a Fast Life to keep a listener thinking into the late night.

Percussion keeps Forever a Fast Life’s humanity close by.

Forever a Fast Life’s essence is caught between the symphonic and the bit-crushed at times. When the combination becomes disorienting, percussionist Clara Wamaar seems to fuel the fire keeping everything together. Wamaar shreds a set with remarkable articulation, creating a sense of rhythm that feels ever-present. Infinity Shred’s duality between the worlds of dad thrash and videogame bangers creates a unique space where I end up contemplating life- just what kinds of proportions between analog and digital does my experience being alive have? How fast is my own life, and how constantly does it fly by rather than meander?

Infinity Shred’s single, Earth, puts a haunting melody that’s rife for such contemplation. When these questions touch the sweet melancholy chords scattered like easter eggs through the album, I find myself leaning into Wamaar’s percussion. In my perception, the way Wamaar batters open the door to the self-titled track with ferocious blast beats- that’s not something an artificial intelligence is capable of messing with.

Forever a Fast Life- an acquired taste:

Forever a Fast Life’s songs vary drastically in length. I feel a philosophy in the heart and foundation of these songs. However, I am unfamiliar with the form and accustomed to the shorter tracks I’ve been inundated with. Some of the tracks arguably get a little predictable in their progressions, and make a song feel weighed down. Deep down, the journey towards understanding the album’s sonic world is part of what makes the album so enjoyable.  In my own impatience, I can feel a deeper connection to the deliberate and unconventional beauty of Forever a Fast Life.

“What will happen next?”

I notice myself often asking the same question often while listening- “What will happen next?” Long songs like What’s Worth Hiding? and Cranemaker are rife with some earthshaking moments. It tells unique and unsettling stories through a tall set of illustrative audio effects.

Infinity Shred’s Gems in Forever a Fast Life

I’ve got a couple of musical crushes in this album. I cannot stress enough how much I enjoy the combination of orchestral strings and marimbas in Forever a Fast Life. It’s a remarkable duo that deserves more recognition in analog/digital hybrid bands anywhere. I hope more of that happens. The intro that shoots like a cannonball into the title track floods the mind with supersonic endorphins. It’s one of the best transitions of the album. The interplay between ambient and frenetic for each musician playing in the dichotomy is an absolute win for Infinity Shred. The entire melody of Earth is so uniquely pensive, and the slow-rolling melodies feel put the mental in monumental.

The Shakedown:

Overall, Forever a Fast Life is a shreddy, genre-defying journey packed with those complex emotions a music nerd could spend hours gleefully unpacking. Forever a Fast Life is a triumphant step in the digital age of music creation and translates into a fantastic live experience.  The wide expanse of musical voices are sure to give a listener something they resonate with alongside some truly mental percussion.

Pick up a copy of Infinity Shred’s Forever a Fast Life this August 23rd, on 3DOT Recordings.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0ILXh1YpIv9Sn5CJSCgvSZ?si=cdT2qNn6Tm-s_YDEumWZ0w
Infinity Shred Site: https://www.infinityshred.com/