If distance makes the heart grow fonder, IDM fans across the globe must be gushing with adoration for Boards of Canada. It’s been thirteen years since the Scottish act's last record— 2013’s ‘Tomorrow’s Harvest’— and based on those sold-out listening events alone, you can tell new album ‘Inferno’ is heavily anticipated. Still, it’s interesting to consider the near-universal praise this project is receiving: for all its delightful soundscapes, ’Inferno’ is quite the test of patience.

Boards of Canada aren’t a group who’ll simply hand you an enjoyable experience listening to their work: their songs are subdued and nuanced, more interested in creating an atmosphere than in truly sticking with you. It’s shocking to recognise that the record opens with its most spirited material, settling into some effective drum loops throughout ‘Prophecy At 1420 MHz’ and ‘Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan’— ‘Inferno,’ as a title, does a poor job capturing the music within, which only grows more despondent and distant as it progresses. Outside of that opening suite, the album is rarely demanding of your attention, but seems fixated on psychedelia and mystique above all else. Cuts like ‘Arena Americanada’ and ‘Memory Death’ are dominated by hazy samples and far-off keyboards, all of which tend to leave you with more questions than answers. Boards of Canada’s work is about the journey, rather than about finding some sort of catharsis: even when ‘I Saw Through Platonia’ rounds things out, the album remains as obscure as ever.

Or perhaps the record is much simpler than that— for a project that relies so heavily on atmosphere and mystery, ‘Inferno’ is built from a fairly shallow pool of sounds and concepts. The vast majority of these songs are stuffed with the same glitchy electronic effects and fuzzy keyboard tones, neither of which are allowed to open up into something more inviting at any point: considering just how long the record goes on for, it’s disappointing to discover that Boards of Canada only really have two tricks up their sleeve. At any point, the album is either indulging in the out-and-out ambience of ‘Somewhere Right Now In The Future’ and ‘Into The Magic Land’ or the skulking IDM of ‘All Reason Departs’ and ‘The Word Becomes Flesh,’ and doing so without much variance or fanfare. ‘Inferno’ is meant to be a relaxing experience, sure, but the record veers far too close to monotony on several occasions because of it. Pray tell, what purpose do the near-unintelligible vocal samples on ‘Age Of Capricorn’ and ‘The Process’ actually serve?

Whether a particular track lives or dies, then, is solely predicated not on its unique place within the album, but on whether or not its atmosphere speaks to you: redundant as they can feel at points, Boards of Canada’s soundscapes can nonetheless be quite effective. ‘Naraka’ manages to capture an almost ritualistic energy on the part of its chanted refrains, yet remains unobtrusive nonetheless— it’s a testament to the group that they can find room for evocative melodies, like on ‘Blood In The Labyrinth,’ that feel just as textured and muted as the arrangements behind them. ‘You Retreat In Time And Space’ is a welcome dose of warmth at the end of the album, collecting sunny shakers and endearing chimes together into an altogether cheery track. Truth be told, it isn’t all-that difficult to sink into most of the sound portraits that make up ‘Inferno,’ which are consistently well-handled. It’s only when we compare the ambience on offer here to the work of someone like Oneohtrix Point Never that Boards of Canada come up short.

The Scottish group have returned, and their newest offering is just as immersive as you’d want it to be… but, truth be told, it’s also a bit of a bore. ‘Inferno’ is packed with shimmering keyboards and intriguing decisions, but those initial waves of curiosity dissipate shockingly fast, revealing just how plain and straightforward much of the album actually is. Boards of Canada do what they do well here, putting together some solid moments of ambience— really though, that’s all they manage to accomplish throughout this repetitive seventy minutes.