Review: Atlantis Chronicles – Nera

Style: Progressive Metalcore (mixed vocals)
Review by: Zach
Country: France
Release date: 8 April 2022

Hoo boy, see that date? Yes, I’ve been a little slow. There’s no denying it. And I apologize for the lack of reviews I know you all have been clamoring for. Yes, your king has returned. You needn’t bow, mortals. But what’s kept me gone for so long, you may ask (probably not)? Well, change. I won’t bore you with the details of my super awesome job (minimum wage) or my super amazing bachelor pad that I got (a one bedroom), but I will tell you that it certainly kept me busy in the last few months.

While I welcome it, change is a pants-shittingly terrifying thing. Because you’re taking a massive risk that could lead to massive reward or massive ruin. Remember our friends from Épiphanie who decided they wanted togo beyond deathcore and released one of the greatest prog-death albums ever made? Yeah, you could get that or Cold Lake. Atlantis Chronicles didn’t take such a massive risk between sophomore venture Barton’s Odyssey and Nera, but it’s enough to make their old listeners maybe go “huh?” just for a moment.

Atlantis Chronicles started somewhere between tech-death and metalcore. Every song from the first two albums features the sweepy-tappy sections into single-note breakdowns which we’re all very accustomed to by now. And while Barton had some moments that kept me entertained, every song seemed a little too busy for my liking. Sections moved by at the speed of light, and riffs never stuck because everything became a bit muddled together.

However, the first thing I noticed about Nera is that it’s cleaner. In way of production and writing, Nera is tighter and more focused than the last two albums. While the first two album’s sounds were more akin to early The Contortionist had a baby with BTBAM, and as awesome as that sounds, they weren’t quite there yet. This new sound is more BTBAM without the chaos, with a dash of Rototypical and Currents for good measure.

And it’s a sound that suits Atlantis Chronicles far more than the old. The riffs are more memorable and each song seems less like an exorcise in sweeps and taps. While there is technicality in here, it’s nowhere near as self-indulgent as Bart. The instruments are as clear as you can get for metalcore-style production, and the bass plays a much more massive role now. But the theatricality I enjoyed from Barton is still there, without the cheesy spoken word portions to drag things down.

And like our good pals Épiphanie, this album is set at a tight 35 minutes. No song goes above 5 minutes, which is perfect for my allowed 30-minute work breaks. Listen, with the stuff I deal with, you’d take an extra 5 too. Opener ‘Full Fathom Five’ is sometimes all I need to hear, because the unfortunate reality is that I think the album never recaptures that high from the opening track.

Nera is good, don’t get me wrong. There are some really awesome moments throughout the whole runtime. The intro riff of ‘The Damned and the Saved’ and the chorus of ‘A New Extinction’ are really great and earworm-y without being annoying. ‘The Great Escape” is the only track that can match the intensity and grandiosity of the opener, and it comes way too late in the album to reclaim some of that glory.

But that opening track is fantastic. With putting such an amazing track first, you really get the vision that the entire album is going to be full of bangers like that. And while every song is still good, that’s all it is. But, with the knowledge that they can put out such an incredible opener, I believe Atlantis Chronicles is capable of putting out an album full of ‘Full Fathom Five’s, and I believe that’s where they’ll reach their peak.

Recommended tracks:  Full Fathom Fives, A New Extinction, The Great Escape
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Protest the Hero, Currents, less chaotic Destrage
You may also like: Rototypical, less chaotic Satyr
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Metal East Productions – Website | Facebook

Atlantis Chronicles is:
– Julien Harp (vocals)
– Julien Rosenthal (guitars)
– Simon Chariter (bass)
– Alex Houngbo (guitars, vocals)
– Sydney Taleb (drums)