{"id":313733,"date":"2025-12-13T10:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T10:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/313733\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T10:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T10:47:12","slug":"review-jester-majesty-infinite-measure-finite-existence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/313733\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Jester Majesty – Infinite Measure, Finite Existence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published by Cory<\/a> on December 12, 2025December 12, 2025<\/p>\n

\"\"Artwork by: Vini Vhummel<\/p>\n

Style: Progressive metal, technical thrash metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Death, Coroner<\/a>, Nevermore
Country: Italy
Release date: 4 December 2025<\/p>\n

Since my early days listening to heavy music, I\u2019ve gravitated toward the late \u201880s and early \u201890s, when metal began to take a progressive, technical turn. With \u2026And Justice for All in 1988, Metallica famously expanded on their iconic thrash style, featuring labyrinthine song structures and winding guitars that slithered all around the album. Meanwhile in the underground, Coroner and Voivod were busy dragging thrash firmly into progressive territory. Death, fresh off defining death metal as a style, quickly began pushing the genre to dizzying heights; and Atheist and Cynic blew the paradigm wide open with their debuts in the early \u201890s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This hardly scratches the surface of metal\u2019s technical evolution, but it captures much of the music that formed the foundation for my taste\u2014and more importantly for the sake of this review, the foundation of Italy\u2019s Jester Majesty. If it weren\u2019t evident enough from the first few minutes of their debut album, Infinite Measure, Finite Existence, the band describe themselves as \u201ca modern resurrection of late \u201980s and \u201890s progressive\/technical metal, filtered through a dystopian lens.\u201d And that\u2019s exactly what you get. Carried by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Alessandro Gargivolo, Jester Majesty blaze through ten tracks that harken back to that golden era. Although gold may not tarnish, fool\u2019s gold does: any guess which one this Jester is offering?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

If I can take anything away from Infinite Measure, Finite Existence, it\u2019s that Gargivolo can riff. Front to back, the album supplies a near-constant stream of fast, thrashy riffing in varying shades of tech and prog. After a short opener, \u201cHuman vs. Machine\u201d states the band\u2019s case in eight frenetic minutes, packing about a hundred riffs inspired by the styles of Coroner and, especially, Death. Gargivolo\u2019s tone and melodic palette often mirror Chuck\u2019s in The Sound of Perseverance\u2014nearly every track has at least one part that bears an uncanny resemblance, a couple of the obvious ones appearing a little under five minutes into \u201cHuman vs. Machine\u201d and throughout the first forty-five seconds of \u201cThe Curse of Majesty.\u201d More egregiously, \u201cAmphibian to Chameleon\u201d begins almost the same as the Death deep cut \u201cLow Life\u201d from Spiritual Healing. Nevertheless, Gargivolo\u2019s performance is solid, particularly in standout track \u201cWhen Numbers Speak,\u201d and the solos sprinkled across the album by lead guitarist Erymanthon Seth are consistently strong. Even the chunky, albeit simple, bass performed by Gargivolo is an effective part of the band\u2019s sound.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the same can\u2019t be said for the record\u2019s other elements. For one, its production is thoroughly brickwalled, to the point that even the rare clean guitar passages blare in almost the same way as the heavier ones. The programmed drums exacerbate this issue, as each virtual hit rings at the same volume as every other hit\u2014loud! In sections where the drums play purportedly softer, simpler beats, like the intro to \u201cEchoes of \u220f,\u201d they completely lack dynamics, making parts of the album sound like a YouTube guitarist playing over a noisy, stock drum machine. A human touch, or drum programming that factors in human-like dynamics, would pay massive dividends in improving Infinite Measure, Finite Existence\u2019s sound.<\/p>\n

Just as the production and drums lack dynamics, so too does the songwriting\u2014at least when viewed at the album level. The songs have sudden tempo changes, a few different riffing styles, and slight shifts in texture, but the consistent and predictable use of these components makes the tracks blur together. After several listens, if you were to drop me in the middle of any given song, there\u2019s no shot I could tell you which one is playing. Still, one element hampers the record more than any other: the vocals. Stuck somewhere between a gruff rasp and an atonal croon, Gargivolo relies on changing inflection rather than melody in his lines, and the vocals sound monotonous and frankly odd as a result. To his credit, there\u2019s some variety in his vocal delivery\u2014he often changes intensity, and \u201cHuman vs. Machine\u201d and \u201cAmphibian to Chameleon\u201d have bridges that, for some reason, suddenly become melodramatic\u2014but all are similarly awkward.<\/p>\n

In the end, Infinite Measure, Finite Existence is a nice collection of riffs and leads, but falters as an entire package. If you simply want to hear ten tracks\u2019 worth of guitar playing that draws upon the technical metal of the late \u201880s and early \u201890s, be my guest\u2014I wouldn\u2019t blame you, and the record would certainly deliver. But I\u2019m sure Jester Majesty is capable of more. Gargivolo has proven his riff-writing chops and command over his guitar. With a more explorative approach to songwriting and a dedicated drummer and vocalist, the band could put together something fully realized and quite compelling. Until then, I\u2019ll happily return to the canonical bands that pioneered the style decades ago.<\/p>\n

Recommended tracks: Human vs. Machine, When Numbers Speak
You may also like: Control Denied, Cryptosis<\/a>, Ursawrath<\/a>
Final verdict: 4\/10<\/p>\n

Related links: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Label: Xtreem Music<\/a><\/p>\n

Jester Majesty is:
\u2013 Alessandro Gargivolo (guitars, bass, vocals)
\u2013 Erymanthon Seth (lead guitars on \u201cHuman vs. Machine,\u201d \u201cEchoes of \u220f,\u201d \u201cMarried to the Masterplan,\u201d \u201cMasquerade (The Algorithm),\u201d and \u201cAmphibian to Chameleon\u201d; keyboards)<\/p>\n

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