There are two dead giveaways that Atræ Bilis have something very, very weird in their back pocket.
Released by the continuously boundary-blurring 20 Buck Spin, Aumicide’s cover artwork is something that, let’s just say, probably shouldn’t be focused on too long whilst at work or in a public setting.
Appropriately so, the record consistently zigs when you zag, making it impossible to get settled into any sort of rhythm, which seems to be by design, because there is so much finesse and vigor in each musician.
A glitched, stuck voice effect that sounds like Kirby gobbling up its prey is accompanied by yoyoing guitar that adds to the zaniness (“Hell Simulation”), and buffered, stuck-in-slime guitar distortions (“Inward To Abraxas”) sounds like having your brain sucked out of your ear via a vacuum.
“Excruciate Incarnate” features on-your-toes shifts in volume and rhythm, and boy, oh boy, the musical development of longing, grim acceptance is magnificent; spearheaded by vocals and reinforced by instrumentals, it’s for sure a standout track.
That’s rivaled, however, by the equally impressive “A Monolith Aflame.” The introduction sounds like the moments leading up to a seedy, back-alley cage fight. There are sudden bursts of 0-to-100-and-back, and the nifty bum-bum-BUM-BUM hi-hats sequence is as titillating as it is enlivening.
So there is some weird-ass shit during the ten songs, but there’s also a clear and guided motive that the Vancouver four-piece follow exquisitely. There is fibrous strumming throughout opener “Protoxenesis” and “Kingdom Of Cortisol” (actually not named for what the DMV on Monday mornings feels like) is resplendent with downright dirty riffs and guitar fills.
Atræ Bilis take influence from Death Metal, Brutal Tech Death, dissonance and atmospherics. What’s exciting about that is it makes Aumicide even better to listen to.
Worry not about how to label or describe this menace because the record is its own monster.
Buy the album here:
https://atraebilisdeath.bandcamp.com/album/divinihility
8 / 10
MATT COOK