Atræ Bilis – Aumicide
Release Date: 19th April 2024
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Bandcamp
Genre: Technical Death Metal
FFO: Ulcerate, Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Gorguts, Dying Fetus.
Review By: Paul Cairney
‘Apexapian’ was the debut album from Canadian band Atræ Bilis, and it sat comfortably in my top 5 albums of 2021, so I was immediately keen to listen to their sophomore release, Aumicide.
The first thing to notice is that this is brutally heavy, frighteningly heavy in places. The debut album was crushing, but Aumicide has grabbed the bar and thrown it to a level as high as they could.
This has come at a cost. Aumicide is an album that is not going to appeal to all. It is not as accessible as their debut and is a much tougher listen. The riffs are more, well, ‘techy’ and dissonant. There is nothing catchy about the riffs, this is brutality at its finest, and if it appeals to you then Atræ Bilis have struck another home run.
It won’t appeal to all!
With a run-time of just over 40 minutes, the 10 tracks on offer do offer enough variety that the album flies along. There are also a couple of incredibly strong songs. The single, ‘Salted in Stygia’ drips with heaviness and has a strong vocal from front-man Jordan Berglund that propels the song forward. ‘Through the Hologram’s Cervix’ is one of the more high-intensity songs in what is a very high intensity album – make of that what you will.
Lyrically, Aumicide is a concept album of sorts, telling of ‘a test specimen subject to experiments in faith removal by intromitting simulations of Hell to sever the self from the multiverse, resulting in the genesis of a new era; an egregore engineered by an absolute godlessness’. Indeed!!
Atræ Bilis have been incredibly brave with the release of album number 2. Aumicide is true to the bands belief of what Technical Death Metal should be. The increase in aggression, coupled with the sheer intensity of the delivery, should be applauded. Atræ Bilis have created their own personal monster.
(4 / 5)
