Album Review: Atræ Bilis - Apexapien
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
Atræ Bilis took no time at all in providing a follow up to last year’s phenomenal E.P. Divinihility. The Canadian four piece got right back on it and put their creative juices to work to create another work of experimental discordant death metal going by the title Apexapien.
What stood out with Divinihility was the way Atræ Bilis were able to take a variety of elements, craft them together without a hint of force to create a special brand of technical extreme metal.
Built on a foundation of technical death metal with a dark blackened edge Atræ Bilis craft each of the 8 tracks on Apexapien into their own individual piece of art. The dark and technical guitar work along with devastatingly powerful rhythms and booming vocals create a truly interesting and intense listening experience which keeps you hooked right from its opening instrumental offering Theta. From Theta track the record moves to Lore Beyond Bone ATRÆ BILIS taking blackened death metal riffs, adding ferocious technicality, and adding a severe dark atmosphere, (think Here in After meets Colored Sands as an example). This is a theme which can be found throughout Apexapien. Bacterium Abloom and Hymn Of The Flies bring a huge epic sounding atmosphere through the use of dark subtle melodies. This atmosphere really adds to the listening experience that Apexapien delivers. ATRÆ BILIS are not afraid to strip back and just unleash a furious audio assault which tracks like Into The Seas Of Sepsis, with its Hate Eternal and Suffocation stylings deliver with extreme vengeance for the listeners pleasure.
Apexapien follows the same path as the band’s Divinihility E.P. and proves that Atræ Bilis are not just another tech death band from Canada. Apexapien just flows with creativity and with the fusion of various styles nothing seems forced into place and no one element dominateing the release. It’s a record that demands attention, it may require multiple listens to take in the full scope of what ATRÆ BILIS are bringing to the listener but at the end of it you will be thankful you took 32 minutes out of your day to have given this record your time.
