Genres: Progressive death metal, djent (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Persefone, more Persefone
Country: New Jersey, United States
Release date: 12 January, 2024
Einar Solberg’s powerful, thunderous guest vocals start off Persefone’s latest, Metanoia, a moment that enraptures me whenever I give the album its cursory Autism Listen. It’s an album that’s always there when I’m in dire need of every riff ever known to man fit in 50 minutes. Persefone have a riffing style that’s completely unique to them, and their kitchen-sink approach to songwriting should be messy but somehow isn’t. Persefone’s songwriting prowess, once it clicked, shot them up to the upper echelons of the prog deities. I am, as a musician, undeniably influenced by their alien skill. Then again, I try to draw influence from everything I listen to.
Animarum really, really, REALLY like Persefone as well, and I can’t say I blame them. The four piece from New Jersey have that unmistakable djentle touch to their songs that clearly comes from listening and analyzing the Andorran gods over and over again. However, Animarum are not Persefone. In fact, they’re barely a worship band because I hear other influences in there too. But Animarum have committed the gravest sin a group of musicians can commit—what is that, you may ask?
They let their talent go to waste by making a mediocre album. These lads are undeniably great musicians, and they know their way around making a standard prog-death riff, but this entire album, all thirty-ish minutes of it, plays it all so incredibly safe that I can’t help but shake my head. This album is sooooo close to being incredibly decent prog-death, but falls short in just about every sense.
Let’s get the short positives out of the way first. For the first time in I think ever, the vocals, both clean and harsh, are the least offensive things about this album in relation to other mediocre bands I’ve reviewed. The lyrics are standard “technology bad” fare, but the delivery of some of the vocal lines is actually quite impressive. I’m not going to knock off points for lack of lyrical creativity, but I will say they aren’t very good. The subtle-as-a-brick opening lyrics of ‘Vikalpa’ really hammer in the point (A world without human connection/So close, yet so far, from what we really know). The vocals at the very climax of ‘Machina’, combined with the guitars and furious double-bass, really proves to me that there’s something great in this band that only appears briefly.
But my god, these riffs are boring. Every song feels like it’s the same tempo, same chugging riffs, and same clean vocal climactic section. This doesn’t feel the slightest bit innovative, or different from any of the other thousands of prog-death projects that exist on Bandcamp. Every song blends into one another, and I’ve listened to this thing a good amount of times. The first riff on ‘Vikalpa’ sounds undeniably Persefone before it goes into a very familiar chugging pattern you’re gonna hear a lot of on Machina.
The other instrumentals really don’t have much of note going on either. The bass is certainly present in the mix, a plus in my book, and the drums are serviceable for standard double-bass rhythms, but once again, everything is far too bland for a band inspired by one of the least bland bands out there. I truly wish I could speak more on this album, but with everything being so middle of the road, it leaves me with not much else to say other than…eh.
Animarum are a young band, and they have a huge amount of potential with the amount of talent they’ve shown off; however talent doesn’t equate to songwriting prowess, and they need a lot more practice in that regard to pull off something as complex as prog death. However, like I say to all the bands I think are a little medium rare, prove me wrong. Write an amazing next album that blows this out of the water. Don’t let your talent go to waste!
Recommended tracks: Machina
You may also like: Dessideirum?
Final verdict: 5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook
Label: Independent
Animarum is:
– Kevin Chiliquinga (guitars, vocals)
– Leart Begolli (guitars, vocals)
– Eddie Adamkowski (bass)
– Christian Fajardo (drums)
0 Comments