The general Inferno review, magazine, podcast etc. topic

[Rikkiebags]

Do the NME not bother reviewing albums any more? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Negamuse]

They do they just need a few days to look around and see if something's already popular

[atubofturquoisecustard]

The critical reaction to the album reminds me of a bit of Eyes Wide Shut. It got really mixed/unfavourable reviews when it came out but overtime has become considered Stanley Kubrick’s greatest film. I have a feeling the same will happen with Inferno, even though I absolutely loved it from the first listen haha.

[boredoms]

The critical reaction to the album reminds me of a bit of Eyes Wide Shut. It got really mixed/unfavourable reviews when it came out but overtime has become considered Stanley Kubrick’s greatest film. I have a feeling the same will happen with Inferno, even though I absolutely loved it from the first listen haha.

I like that comparison, as I always say BOC are the Kubrick of the music world in many ways... but it seems more true for TCH or TH than Inferno. TCH has by now gained back a lot of the praise it didn't get at first, though TH is still sort of the odd one out which seems to be a lot of people's least favorite. But, at least from what I've seen, only 2 or 3 major publications have given Inferno a negative review. Mostly critics, fans and people in general seem to be extremely positive. Actually, it seems like maybe the most positive immediate reaction for one of their albums since at least Geogaddi, no? Sure, there's detractors (I've heard X/Twitter is very negative about it but I don't wanna wade into that cesspool), but overall people are digging it. Just check out RateYourMusic, where it already has a 4.02 overall score from like 6k ratings. TH still is down at 3.59, the only LP of theirs to not be "bolded," or above 3.80.

[atubofturquoisecustard]

The critical reaction to the album reminds me of a bit of Eyes Wide Shut. It got really mixed/unfavourable reviews when it came out but overtime has become considered Stanley Kubrick’s greatest film. I have a feeling the same will happen with Inferno, even though I absolutely loved it from the first listen haha.

I like that comparison, as I always say BOC are the Kubrick of the music world in many ways... but it seems more true for TCH or TH than Inferno. TCH has by now gained back a lot of the praise it didn't get at first, though TH is still sort of the odd one out which seems to be a lot of people's least favorite. But, at least from what I've seen, only 2 or 3 major publications have given Inferno a negative review. Mostly critics, fans and people in general seem to be extremely positive. Actually, it seems like maybe the most positive immediate reaction for one of their albums since at least Geogaddi, no? Sure, there's detractors (I've heard X/Twitter is very negative about it but I don't wanna wade into that cesspool), but overall people are digging it. Just check out RateYourMusic, where it already has a 4.02 overall score from like 6k ratings. TH still is down at 3.59, the only LP of theirs to not be "bolded," or above 3.80.

Yeah, that's fair I've avoided reading the reviews only briefly seeing The Guardian one since it was being discussed in this thread. That figures since THC is my favourite of theirs and TH is my least favourite. I feel like Inferno is a literal spiritual successor to Geogaddi with elements of TH. It's like the demons of Geogaddi spilled into the modern technodystopia of TH and beyond. Will be interested to see what the brothers have to say in 2026 if they give any interviews!

[boredoms]

The critical reaction to the album reminds me of a bit of Eyes Wide Shut. It got really mixed/unfavourable reviews when it came out but overtime has become considered Stanley Kubrick’s greatest film. I have a feeling the same will happen with Inferno, even though I absolutely loved it from the first listen haha.

I like that comparison, as I always say BOC are the Kubrick of the music world in many ways... but it seems more true for TCH or TH than Inferno. TCH has by now gained back a lot of the praise it didn't get at first, though TH is still sort of the odd one out which seems to be a lot of people's least favorite. But, at least from what I've seen, only 2 or 3 major publications have given Inferno a negative review. Mostly critics, fans and people in general seem to be extremely positive. Actually, it seems like maybe the most positive immediate reaction for one of their albums since at least Geogaddi, no? Sure, there's detractors (I've heard X/Twitter is very negative about it but I don't wanna wade into that cesspool), but overall people are digging it. Just check out RateYourMusic, where it already has a 4.02 overall score from like 6k ratings. TH still is down at 3.59, the only LP of theirs to not be "bolded," or above 3.80.

Yeah, that's fair I've avoided reading the reviews only briefly seeing The Guardian one since it was being discussed in this thread. That figures since THC is my favourite of theirs and TH is my least favourite. I feel like Inferno is a literal spiritual successor to Geogaddi with elements of TH. It's like the demons of Geogaddi spilled into the modern technodystopia of TH and beyond. Will be interested to see what the brothers have to say in 2026 if they give any interviews!

TH and Geogaddi are my favorites so it makes sense I love Inferno so much I guess - it does feel more in the vein of those than MHTRTC or TCH overall.

I really hope they do an interview but unfortunately it's not looking likely at this point -- they likely would have already done at least one if they were gonna. But who knows!

[seanandcandy]

They do they just need a few days to look around and see if something's already popular

Guardian could've used this technique

[ryetronics]

I've noticed a few people on the BoC Facebook group saying they've seen posts claiming someone who works for a media publication reached out to Warp for an interview and were told they are not doing any for this release. Any idea where these rumors are coming from?

And man, the FB is both great and TOXIC. Lots of shitposting. Makes me grateful for the moderation here on Twoism.

[detit tani]

BOC facebook group, thats an oxymoron.
why would you go anywhere near these terrible platforms?
They are the antithesis of BOC

[Widmerpool]

And man, the FB is both great and TOXIC. Lots of shitposting. Makes me grateful for the moderation here on Twoism.

I would rather have great and toxic, up to a point at least, than tame and sanitized. This became a philosophy of mine somewhere along the way, even if I can understand the necessity of some for safe spaces. Shitposting can be tons of fun. Live and let live, anything goes, wu wei: I don't think any of these mottos is blatantly unBoC-ish.

Having said that, I love Twoism, BoCpages and Fredd-E more than any physical being.

[Mexicola]

Well I think that's wonderful.

[Sherbet Head]

I've noticed a few people on the BoC Facebook group saying they've seen posts claiming someone who works for a media publication reached out to Warp for an interview and were told they are not doing any for this release. Any idea where these rumors are coming from?

Yeah, I've heard this from a few different sources now. With the lack of new press photos, I guess it checks out.

[b0qurant]

as much as I would pore over an interview from them, I would be encouraged by them not doing any press for Inferno.

I feel their media persona(s) (or, more accurately, lack thereof) has always been a powerful component of the messaging.

'now more than ever' it would feel appropriate -- given what I know of their critiques, skepticisms, moral compasses, etc. -- to stay silent in this way.

i.e., for some reason public figures (and figures, generally) grace us daily with shortform content of their matcha lattes.
BoC, on the other hand, may very well just opt out.

[magrathea_ultima]

Given the loss of agency that we, as a species are experiencing as part of the last few years of onslaught I would say that an interview or two would not only be great, but it is almost required. point in case.

Angine de Poitrine are absolutely real, human and have a tangible existence while being absolutely anonymous (at least on the surface). There is no denying the human aspect of it, it is extremely tangible, they perform live, you can see the skills displayed, etc. They do interviews that are absolute nonsense, but they do not need to make any sense, they are undeniably human to a point where, just yet, AI has no comfortable grasp, exactly because they are such outliers and AI is by essence an aggregator and therefore follows more or less a bell curve unless prompted with care.

BoC is completely invisible, dehumanized almost save for the "emotional" value of it, which we know generative AI will achieve within a few years if not earlier. There is no tangible presence, there is no anchor into reality as per se beyond sporadic releases but beyond that, we do not know what exactly BoC is anymore. All we have is guesswork at this point. Not to play into conspiracy theories but in an era where everything is less and less tangible, where agency is lost, where the lines between synthetic and genuine blurs, the very concept of what is art, creation, emotion are being redefined daily. And with Inferno, more than ever, I feel that in the era where we are now I find myself questioning things (Warp/Bleep milking the cash cow, the obvious paint by number reveal, which in itself was lovely but remains sadly entrenched into the marketing world (i.e. previous customers get goodies, buy more! Invest in future possibilities.)

I, for one, would welcome any kind of interview, interaction that breaks that fifth wall (which is in itself a higher interaction level than the fourth wall in cinema.)

They don't owe anyone anything, it's their prerogative to do or not do.

All I'm stating here is a personal wish that would do their current work (is it, though? I would be curious to know from mdg or pic if Inferno is what they heard was in the pipeline.)

[b0qurant]

magrathea,

super interesting perspective on this. definitely making me think twice about it and much appreciated.

[magrathea_ultima]

magrathea,

super interesting perspective on this. definitely making me think twice about it and much appreciated.

You are most welcome. b0qurant.
Great quote you have there too in your signature.

[Waterbagel]

i would just as soon expect no interviews in the spirit of the very human ability to Just Say No - a lot of content generated (by hand, and increasingly by AI) seeks to make us feel like our questions are answered. why did they do this? when this happened in the book, or in the show, or in the movie, what did it mean? what are the symbols in front of me, and how do they correlate?

they're good questions, and some are good to answer collectively. more and more, i think many are meant to be answered by ourselves. david lynch seemed to feel similarly. many of us know the eraserhead quote, where he flatly refuses to explain what he means by having called it his most spiritual film.

some of the beauty is in not knowing, into having to become satisfied with what we have and where we've taken it. to me, the consumer drive for AI rhymes with the consumer drive for explainers before art can be called 'enjoyed'

(not that i mind our own speculation or anything - the asking is fun! sometimes it's the whole point! the requirement of answers, to me, less so )

As soon as you finish a film, people want you to talk about it, [...] The film is the talking.

- david lynch

P.S. don't get me wrong, i'll scarf down an interview along with the rest o ye if one shows up

[akirako]

The critical reaction to the album reminds me of a bit of Eyes Wide Shut. It got really mixed/unfavourable reviews when it came out but overtime has become considered Stanley Kubrick’s greatest film. I have a feeling the same will happen with Inferno, even though I absolutely loved it from the first listen haha.

I like that comparison, as I always say BOC are the Kubrick of the music world in many ways... but it seems more true for TCH or TH than Inferno. TCH has by now gained back a lot of the praise it didn't get at first, though TH is still sort of the odd one out which seems to be a lot of people's least favorite. But, at least from what I've seen, only 2 or 3 major publications have given Inferno a negative review. Mostly critics, fans and people in general seem to be extremely positive. Actually, it seems like maybe the most positive immediate reaction for one of their albums since at least Geogaddi, no? Sure, there's detractors (I've heard X/Twitter is very negative about it but I don't wanna wade into that cesspool), but overall people are digging it. Just check out RateYourMusic, where it already has a 4.02 overall score from like 6k ratings. TH still is down at 3.59, the only LP of theirs to not be "bolded," or above 3.80.

4.02 on RYM is crazy. >3 means good on RYM, >3.50 is a very good score. 4.02 from 6k ratings is overwhelming acclaim.

[Widmerpool]

It is already below 4... but I wouldn't take any RateYourMusic's average ratings too seriously, a site renowned for its fitful and extremely biased activity which translates itself to bloated and outrageous and overall unfair scores. Some of them stink to high heaven whereas others feel suspiciously high, more often than not the byproduct of vested interests and echo chambers. What bugs me isn't the system's shortcomings but the filtering aspect, the fact that an increasing number of so-called music fans treats their average score as oracular of a given album's quality and only then is tempted to listen to it in earnest, much like how Metacritic operates with other media.

So, yeah. RYM. Useful enough for discovering purposes and little else.

[edsand11]

a 3.97 is really good, though i'll say it should be higher, it should be around a 4.1 or so, and geogaddia and mhtrtc should be 4.2s. still i think even still the rating will really go up over time, usually rym rates things low at first and then after a while they start to go back up.