ATRÆ BILIS – Apexapien
Release Date: 8th October 2021
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Ulcerate, Gorguts, Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Immolation, Death Metal!
Review By: Paul Cairney
Right, I am not going to mess about here. Apexapien, the debut full length from Canadian band, ATRÆ BILIS is one of the more accomplished debut albums I have heard for a long time.
Hot on the heels of their, very well received, 2020 EP, ‘Divinihility’, it is a massive step forward for the band, delivering an incredibly confident slab of brutal, technical Death Metal. Apexapien is an album that breaks into your house when you are asleep, creeping up the stairs into your bedroom and delivers a sneaky bastard of a gut-punch.
With a mere 8 tracks, clocking in at just under 32 minutes, ATRÆ BILIS don’t mess about. The album is immediate and very, very heavy! Described by the band as a ‘concept piece’, following the contempt felt by a ‘healer’ towards those in charge who basically fucked things up through the encouragement of physical consumption, or similar… I must admit to paraphrasing a bit, keeping this review in line with the concise album.
Whilst there are no weak tracks on this album, there are a couple that stand out. ‘Bacterium Abloom’ is nothing short of stunning. Probably the most varied songs on the album, its numerous time changes and, I quote from the press release as there is not a better way to describe it, ‘exhilarating experimental progressivism’, it is the best track on Apexapien and one that sticks in your brain for days. ‘Lore Beyond Bone’ is also a bruiser of a track and album closer ‘To Entomb the Aetherworld’ basically leaves you with no alternative but to press play again!
In a genre that can be very singular in its delivery, many bands have failed to stand out amongst the congestion of very similar sounding bands. ATRÆ BILIS, and I have assumed that their name should be in capitals – they certainly deserve it – have released an album that has set a standard that, if they can exceed or at least maintain it, will see them sitting near the top of the list of modern Death Metal bands.
ATRÆ BILIS could quite possibly be the band Death Metal has been waiting for!
(4.5 / 5)
