With a really strong demo already on their resume, Dias Xila Leurc, Amniac strike back with their debut album, Infinite, prepared to meet the expectations. The Greek band nicely blends together the sound and vibe of great post metal acts such as Neurosis and Isis, with a touch of the colder sound of Cult of Luna and the aggression of Gojira. All those influences are filtered through their musical kaleidoscope, alongside their monolithic riffs and sonic intensity, and are mixed to bring forth the mesmerizing Infinite.
The strongest aspect of the band is their tendency to travel to the more emotional regions of the musical spectrum. The melodies of “And The Others Just Survive” are overflowing in the opening track, and even though their application to the track is straightforward, the results are quite unexpected. A similar strategy is applied on the title track, as the band steadily builds up the song with their emotional approach always at large. But that does not mean that Amniac stay only on the bright side of the emotional spectrum. Their affinity for darker territories is quite apparent even in the more melodic tracks, but it becomes obvious in songs such as “Rise Like The Suns,” with a sense of oppressed anger that somehow turns into an almost claustrophobic feeling of anguish. Their versatility in that aspect becomes even more palpable when they include the colder industrial touch, reminiscent of the early days of Isis and Godflesh, in “A System Waiting to Fail.”
The hardcore-esque influences are also at large in Infinite, with the vocals especially carrying a big part of the load with their in-your-face approach. But structurally as well, Amniac has a lot of the aggression of the hardcore scene – the more experimental side of the hardcore scene, that is. The breakdown parts of the opening song and the more primal vibe of “Rise Like The Suns” reveals that underlying hardcore current that the band keeps close to the surface. While in other instances, such as the title track and in “A System Waiting to Fail,” it gives that extra edge to the music, necessary for a bigger impact. When this is combined with the heavy and dirty sludge basis of the band, then things get very interesting indeed, with their sludge self being their bread and butter. The sludge guitars, combined with the more hardcore vibe of “Rise Like The Suns,” lift the song to a new level, as does the sludge outbreak in most parts of the closing track. And on top of all that, you get the post metal moments, coming in with their cleansing aura in key moments, such as in the beginning of the opening track and in “Rise Like The Suns.”
Still, what makes the biggest difference in the music of Amniac is their implementation of melodic lines. The melodies are waiting for you around each corner, always ready to make an appearance. Even in the interludes, “Ignorants” and “Discerning,” the band makes it a point to have stunning phrases in there to take you by surprise. On top of the calculated progression of “A System Waiting to Fail,” the guitar melodies offer a much more interesting space for the music of Amniac, while the darker tonality in “Our Kind, The Plague,” sees the band still applying melodies to get their point across. But the most interesting moment has to be in the change from melody to dissonance in the closing track. The dissonant parts in that moment sound so good that it makes you wonder why the band did not make use of them more often in Infinite.
Nevertheless, Infinite is a solid album of well-played experimental heavy music. The post metal vibe, alongside the sludge self and the hardcore outbreaks of Amniac, will not leave you disappointed.
