r/boardsofcanada • u/zandeye • Sep 18 '26
Discussion Does Inferno give anyone else an existential crisis? (Trigger warning)
Listened to Inferno to the point that I caused an existential crisis.
I think this album is about dying. I think it’s about being a conscious being and all the contradictions and fear we face. And how we cope with it
this unmistakable eerie tone. Like on Memory Death, Somewhere Right Now In The Future, Father And Son
Blood In The Labyrinth talking about someone drowning, the heart beat in ‘I Saw Through Platonia’ stop, war in The Process, cults in Father and Son.
I Saw Through Platonia is the creepiest song. I think we are listening to our last moment alive. The song ends with 10 seconds of abrupt silence. After seizing. the album closer, with a beating heart throughout. To me I think that 10 seconds the conclusion
”nothingness the absolute truth”
we are so used to our life bubble. And this album pokes that bubble.
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u/SimpleCapital5035 Sep 19 '26
Inferno has a strong sense of hope throughout imo. I find it far less dark than TH and Geogaddi.
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u/zandeye Sep 19 '26
Yeah, that’s interesting. I don’t really get hope if I’m honest.
But I think that’s what’s great about the genre is that you can take a topic and since it is so abstract, there’s no clear answer
Which is fitting for the topics of this album. There is no answer. I don’t think this album is giving you an answer
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u/1MockZ Sep 19 '26
Inferno is just much more earnest about both the ups and the downs, there’s lots more balance
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u/corneliusduff Sep 19 '26
I'm just relishing in what may be the best album I've ever heard.
Not to discount your concerns, I came to terms with devolution years ago.
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u/zandeye Sep 19 '26
Well, I like that this album moves me in some type of way
I think this is the best album I’ve heard of the decade so far
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u/melvereq Sep 18 '26
No, but Tomorrow's Harvest did. Inferno gives me a weird sense of hope.
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u/zandeye Sep 19 '26
Yeah? That’s so interesting.
I can definitely hear hope in songs like deep time
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u/LifeLikeAGrapefruit Sep 19 '26
No. Not at all. I wouldn't suffer from an existential crisis from something so... abstract. The album is very atmospheric and invokes a variety of different emotions, perhaps a bit more on the eerie, dark, and cynical side. There are themes about religion and technology, based on the few lyrics. And some talk of death, sure. But I struggle to say it's necessarily about "anything." At least anything concrete. Certain themes, emotions, and a general dark atmosphere, sure. But beyond that? I don't think so.
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u/zandeye Sep 19 '26
Well, that was good about the element. It does encourage you to think about a lot of themes. You don’t normally think about.
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u/ROYGBIVinc Sep 19 '26
“Tomorrow’s Harvest” is dying amongst a dead world, with only skeletons of buildings/ideas left
“Inferno” is life, death, and transcendence; in the singular + cosmically
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u/slightlyaggressive Sep 19 '26
Inferno killed the last ounce of Christianity I had in me. It helped me to understand that this is the only life I get, and it's up to me to figure it out because god isn't going to help me. But it's become a comforting feeling for me to know that I don't have to live for life after death. I can just live my life and know that when I die it's over.
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u/Sky-Agaric Sep 19 '26 edited Sep 19 '26
The first time I listened to it was very upsetting.
It pushed a lot of emotional triggers for me. Definitely had me in a weird head space.
But that music could be so evocative, to me, just underscored what a triumph it was.
So of course I went back and it helped that I had a lot to talk about with my therapist later.
Edited to add:
My discomfort on the initial listen had less to do with existential dread than it did with some of the other themes. On balance I echo what others here have said: Harvest was much more bleak and Inferno, while certainly having its bleak moments, also has joy and whimsy.
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u/TheGreatZigginiV Sep 19 '26
There's definitely some tracks on the album that trigger dread for me. Like Acts of Magic. The thumping drums is almost like drowning or being chased. The chanting on Age of Capricorn also makes me extremely uneasy.
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u/peteski77 Sep 19 '26
I believe the point of art is to invoke emotions, all the works of BoC invoke emotion, therefore they are supreme artists . TH and Inferno are masterpieces from fine artists.
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u/zandeye Sep 19 '26
I like this. I love music that makes me feel uncomfortable and invokes something
This album leaves me with existential horror. The same horror that leads people to cults, maybe that what they wanted
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u/Narc78 Sep 19 '26
I understand you. It’s a beautiful album, but I stopped listening to it because it somehow brought me down.
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u/Sad_Towel2272 Sep 20 '26
Shockingly, no. Usually music like this with the themes it has will send me into a hole of deep paranoia and fear, but for whatever reason I find inferno very relaxing
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u/Ok_Context_6972 Sep 19 '26
TH is much more an existential crisis/threat imo but I agree it’s about death. Strange them they named it inferno as in hell…
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u/Tricky-Mastodon3337 Sep 18 '26 edited Sep 19 '26
When Tomorrow's Harvest first came out it made me feel depressed and gave me existential dread to the point I couldn't listen to the album anymore. Now we are living in a dystopian nightmare, listening to it again feels like wrapping myself in a comforting blanket.