''Infliction'' is the debut studio album by Northern Irish rock band Scheer. It was released on 28 May 1996 through

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

record label. The album became a minor alternative hit following the release of the singles "Shéa" and "Wish You Were Dead". The record features an

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

sound with influences from

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ...

and

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

critic Jonathan Lewis described the record as "a promising but inconsistent debut" and stated: "The problem Scheer encounter is not being able to make the songs different enough or to keep the vocals from sounding exposed." Anya Sacharow of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...

'' stated that the frontwoman

Audrey Gallagher Scheer was an alternative metal band from County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty ...

’s "airy, Bjorkian vocals contrast nicely with the mostly metal guitar on ''Infliction'', despite "occasionally lapsing into a monotonous drone". Sacharow also regarded the record as "both hard and pretty — as if you morphed

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with the

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instru ...

." Brad Reno of ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' wrote: "The band kicks up an okay racket and Audrey Gallagher is certainly a strong vocalist, but the material is not desperately memorable." ''

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

''s Aaron Clow thought that the record showcases the band's technical prowess without overshadowing their songwriting. Clow further stated: "The band lives up to its name in a few ways — it's fuzzy and velvety, but watch out for that bed of nails lurking underneath."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Scheer, except where noted. # "Shéa" — 2:21 # "Howling Boy" — 4:02 # "Wish You Were Dead" — 3:15 # "In Your Hand" — 6:33 # "Demon" — 4:48 # "Babysize" — 6:03 # "Sad Loved Girl" — 4:12 # "Driven" — 3:21 # "Screaming" — 4:02 # "Goodbye" (Gallagher, Calderwood, Fleming) — 5:37

Personnel

Album personnel as adapted from the album liner notes.Scheer — ''Infliction'' liner notes ;Scheer *

— vocals * Neal Calderwood — guitar * Paddy Leyden — guitar * Peter Fleming — bass guitar * Joe Bates — drums ;Other personnel *

Audrey Riley Audrey Riley is an English cellist and string arranger, based in the UK. Career Riley trained at the Guildhall School of Music with Leonard Stehn. She was a cellist for Virginia Astley from 1983 to 1986 and a one-time auxiliary member of The ...

— cello (10) * Scheer — production * Head — production * Ted Jensen — mastering * Mike "Spike" Drake — mixing * Steve Cook — assistant mixing * Timothy O'Donnell — art direction, design * Vaughan Oliver — art direction, design * Nicola Schwartz — photography

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

Chart position

References

External links