One year ago, Biffy Clyro released one of the best British albums of all time, and possibly the best album of 2003. 'Vertigo of Bliss' was a masterpiece. Simon Neil put his all into that album, lyrically, musically and passionately. It was emotional and it was heartlessly angry. It was extremely dark and heavy, as much as it was melodic and beautiful. And the best thing about it was that it still showed potential for an even better piece next time. So, a year later, and after much excitement and anticipation, and a stronger fan base than before, have they made that better piece with 'Infinity Land'? Maybe.

Its starts off fantastically, with a dance mix and the first single, "Glitter and Trauma," the same you're likely to hear while playing live, building up a whole minute before getting into the intro we're all used to, frankly makes it all sound a whole more exciting, and to be honest is a fantastic intro. However, despite the new ambient intro to the opening track, there still isn't much to get the feel of the album. Queue "Strung to Your Ribcage" a two and a half minute blast and the closest the band have ever got to punk music, but it pretty much in its entirety lets you know what your in for. Its poppy first chords quickly turn into even heavier riffs as Simon's vocal range goes from illiterate, grindcore screams to a voice to sing you a delicate lullaby. It breaks down in the middle to riffs just for short hits, and returns to the riff as if nothing happened, and the array of emotions and textures is pretty much the gap from what 'Vertigo of Bliss' had to what 'Infinity Land' has.

This, very easy to pick up considering the singles are pretty much your most light-hearted friends here, is a very, very dark album. Not surprising considering the last year for Biffy Clyro has been "glitter and trauma". Glitter: Biffy achieved new heights in British music, and without caring, really is leading the UK rock front, and Trauma: Simon Neil's mother passed on, as did a friend of Ben and James' since school. There's so much going on in this album that you want to instantly listen to it over and over again, just to remember where certain parts where and that yes, that was a fucking killer riff in that song. Which links nicely to the other fact about this album, this is their heaviest, yet most diverse yet. Even in their most emotional moments, you are going to find a heavy riff or possibly just one note blasted impregnably into your ears. But that isn't all: the main factor that makes this album so diverse is that, aside the amazing instrumental side to the music just by the band themselves, the range of instruments incorporated into their music has now increased. "The Atrocity" starts off with a slight off beat piano line, which almost has a, fantastic for some, hell for others sound; "Diary of Always" feels to it. A minute later, an acoustic guitar joins in with the piano and the heartbreaking crooning of Neil's voice. Another minute in and the bass/percussion section joins, and really for Biffy Clyro, this sounds like a missing link into making their music complete. Not only that, but towards the end you also find the use of a trumpet, which makes rather interesting listening.

But, we all love our easily approachable songs, and after another fantastic guitar riff, "Some Kind of Wizard" joins in as a pretty classic Biffy song, what ever that can be defined as, but this does a good job. Strong vocals from all parts make this an instant classic for the band, and a song you will be singing along to for quite some time yet. What follows is another contender for being able to pretty much sum up all of Biffy Clyro's music. "Wave Upon Wave Upon Wave" is right in the middle of the album and with similarly heavy riffs and great vocals gives much of the same feeling that you've come to love Biffy for.

Although, this still isn't what we are all looking for: the perfect Biffy Clyro album. Where 'Blackened Sky' in moments was amazing but as a whole not up to scratch; it's pop song orientated yet heavy metal simplicity made it a great rock album ready to show potential. 'Vertigo of Bliss' was a total leap horse, where some may have expected would take longer, they created a highly evolved, mature, near complete album with such great progressions from their debut, it stands as on of the great albums of the 21st century. 'Infinity Land' stands strong for its dark/heavy sound which progresses even further than its predecessor album; it's a fact that the band loves the obscure touch in their music, but this time, it feels a little too much. "There's No Such Man As Crasp," a three part vocal harmony sung in an almost gothic/gospel fashion, just leaves a question of utter confusion of "Why?" and is absolutely unnecessary. You'll also find a lot more with this album that the sudden obscure little fills in songs turn up when really they don't need to, and one too many is dangerously tedious. What's possibly most chilling about their new gloom founded weird techniques is the outro, two minutes of Simon Neil singing over violins being strung backwards, and it, without a doubt sounds like the end to a horror movie of some kind. The final words possibly the most fitting of "I'm sorry."

As a whole, this is a classic, another fantastic record from the Scottish music wizards. Don't let anyone tell you different, this is an amazing album, and can easily stand as a contender for Album of the Year. It's possible that Biffy Clyro's destiny is that they will never write the perfect album, but have longevity displayed by Green Day to make several, not perfect, but absolute classic albums. But maybe we can be proved wrong next year for album number four.