Scottish electronic duo Boards of Canada have released their first album in 13 years, but Inferno fails to live up to their influential legacy. The album, out on Warp Records, sees brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin exploring themes of religion and damnation, but the execution is often clumsy and the music lacks the innovation of their earlier work.
The duo's signature sound—heavy hip-hop beats paired with spectral ambient textures and vintage samples—feels stuck in the past. While their earlier albums influenced genres from cloud-rap to hauntological music, Inferno is overtaken by more nimble contemporaries. The drum programming is particularly weak, with tracks like 'You Retreat in Time and Space' resembling hold music.
The album's interrogation of religion is dubious. On 'Father and Son', voices of people having crises of faith are cut into a light funky rhythm, which may amuse some but feels excruciatingly unfunny. 'The Word Becomes Flesh' uses an embryo development sample, a cliché for the duo, while 'Naraka' features Hare Krishna chanting that seems to mock eastern religion or deploy lazy orientalism.
There are some highlights, mostly on beatless tracks. 'Age of Capricorn' combines a priestly sermon with chiming ambient sound, and 'The Process' offers bewildering AI-like babble over watery instrumentation. However, these moments are fleeting across the 70-minute album. Diehard fans may appreciate the signature corrupted nostalgia, but for many, Inferno is a disappointing return from a once-visionary act.
