The word infelix means unhappy, unfortunate, or unlucky. This was my first time hearing the word and my introduction to this Seattle-based artist. INFELIX is the work of one J.M. Stevens, who also records under the name Lapsed. He describes the music as “Death Ambient, Blackened Death Industrial, Doom Drone.” Sounds like the band name is fitting, so let’s take a step into the darkness.

We kick it off with “Hymn I: GBK,” which is a slow moving synth composition with an arpeggiated beat and distorted vocals. “Hymn II: The Divine Abyss of Sleep” brings in a heartbeat-like beat over noisy synth washes. Everything eventually dissolves into noise and the overall feeling here is pressure and a sense of relentlessness. “Hymn III: Doomed to Devour” is a grinding, repetitive composition with distorted screaming buried in the mix.

On the next disc we start off with “Hymn IV: Hoarding Decay.” Now we're getting noisy. This is a kind of static composition reminiscent of waves crashing on a beach with heavily distorted vocals. ”Hymn V: The Anguished Light” keeps the noisiness going with screaming vocals and screeching feedback squalls. Everything moves slowly, as if covered under a thick layer of mud. “Hymn VI: Eternal Suffering” closes it off with more crunchy beats and heavy noise with some synth lines emerging from the sludge as it progresses. The slowly progressing synth line is almost hypnotic, as it repeats the theme over and over within the maelstrom.

There is a lot going on in these compositions, and there is a nice mix of noise and synth which keeps it interesting. If you like it heavy and dark, this will be right up your alley. This album is limited to 42 copies and weighs in at around 39 minutes.