Atræ Bilis - Aumicide (2024)^{Release ID: 51560}

Canadians, Atræ Bilis (latin for "black bile"), made a few waves for me with their debut album back in 2021. Apexapien rode the technical death metal wave well enough but did little to standout from the pack and I settled on three and a half stars as my overall rating in the end. Fast-forwards to 2024 and the band are back with a groovier edge to their technical yet dissonant brand of death metal. Billing themselves as “spiritually dissonant death metal”, Atræ Bilis add little in the way of variation to their sophomore when compared to their debut offering. That’s not to say there has been no improvement at all, and that dissonance has increased in presence most certainly.

Clearly more mature in their approach this time, Aumicide sounds technical without being convoluted. With a pretty stable line up (barring a change of bassist) since the debut, Atræ Bilis have a very cohesive sound to their music. Dialling back the scathing attack of the riffs with touches of groove is a smart move, adding accessibility and in fact some fun to proceedings. Whilst not inhabiting the spazzing and tight riffing space deployed by some technical dm acts, Atræ Bilis do still need to add something to make them stand out from the crowd.

Unfortunately, this is where things start to come unstuck somewhat, for this pair of ears at least. The band adopt some kind of effect to the music which proved to be an immediate turn-off for me. I first noticed it on the debut now I revisit that and sadly it is a trend that has bled into some tracks here. On the largely enjoyable Salted in Stygia is where this strobing effect first gets deployed this time around and it serves absolutely no purpose whatsoever. The guys can use their songwriting and musicianship to good effect to change pace and create atmosphere without resorting to irritating gimmicks such as this.

The monstrous and jarring riffs of Inward to Abraxas more than prove their ability as musicians but then this glitchy effect comes in and dashes all the solid effort put into that point. It is rare for one singular element to inhibit my enjoyment of an album, but the sound is too memorable to forget easily, and I find myself listening with my guard up even when being entertained by the chugging riffs, expecting the disorientating effect to be lurking around the corner somewhere.

To have come on reasonably far in three years as a band, it is a shame that the rating this time around cannot be improved upon. Proficient artists though they clearly are, I feel that they let the storytelling that is portrayed through the sound disrupts the simple flow and momentum of individual tracks. Maybe next time guys.