Album art by: Aria Fawn
Style: Progressive metal, melodic death/black metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Dark Tranquillity, Borknagar, Ihsahn (self titled), late 00s melodeath
Country: Minnesota, United States
Release date: 30 August 2024
Categorizing music beyond the basic descriptions is often frowned upon within the prog metal community: categorization creates expectation, which can lead one astray when encountering a band who tries to break the mold. I am someone who loves to categorize1, though, for it gives me a language to discuss and absorb new music with. Sometimes however, it does indeed lead me astray, and today’s subject of review is one such case. Amiensus is back with the second installment of their double album Reclamation. My colleague Zach reviewed the first part, but somehow part two got lost in the reviewing queue and we’re only getting to it now, me being the one to dissect it. And good God, it took me a while to figure out what was going on.
Amiensus was advertised to me as progressive black metal, a genre which I typically associate with bands who prioritize emotion and/or atmosphere (think of Enslaved, Xanthochroid, Dordeduh, etc). After a while though, it dawned on me that though Reclamation Pt. II is definitely blackened, its guitarwork focused way more on inducing neck cramps than on evoking gothic castles in a snowstorm, leading me to think of the record as prog death primarily, and—given that Amiensus is generally melodic and uses a mixed vocals approach—my mind immediately went to bands like Ne Obliviscaris, Opeth, and Enslaved (given the black metal elements) for comparison rather than, say, tech death flirting bands like Death, Obscura, or Gorguts. Turns out though, Amiensus doesn’t quite fit with any of those bands either. Let me explain.
Whereas contemporary progressive (melodic) death metal acts like An Abstract Illusion, Ne Obliviscaris, or Disillusion tend to go for extensive, indulgent compositions focusing on grand, sweeping emotions to provide for adults what “my girlfriend left me and no one can understand my REAL and DEEP pain” type emo/metalcore bands provide for teenagers2, Amiensus keeps their compositions tight and the music relatively upbeat, focusing primarily on head-bangable riffs and sounding badass. While their music is undoubtedly serious and cinematic, the emotions aren’t nearly as heavy as their contemporaries’. Amiensus is a metal band first and foremost, and their progressive aspects are used in service of that, coming in the form of crazy transitions, off-kilter rhythms, tempo changes, and extra dynamic, densely packed songwriting. In that regard, In Vain is probably the closest comparison: both bands take regular melodeath as a basis and amp up the complexity and technicality to become prog, and given that Amiensus also adds in black metal and Viking metal elements, which—in tandem with the cinematic aspect—bring about Borknagar comparisons as well.
As a metal band, Amiensus absolutely rules, showing an incredible acumen for riffage. Whether it’s the hard rocking main riff of opener “Sólfarið”, the machine gun fire assault of “Leprosarium”, the epic meloblack tremolo picking of “The Distance”, or any of the Gothenburg-style lead harmonies that permeate basically every song, Reclamation Pt. II barrages you with one quality riff after another. And that’s not all: Chris Piette’s ferocious work behind the kit elevates the guitarwork to even greater heights. His every hit is in sync with the complex guitar patterns, giving extra punch to the lower end, and his many mini fills provide micro transitions which adds to the dynamic feel of the music. The entire album is a walking highlight reel for the man, but “Leprosarium” in particular is a great sample track for his talents. On vocals, James Benson’s forceful harshes tear through the space with charisma, evoking a prime Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity) in his delivery, and Alec Rozsa does a monstrous deeper, guttural growl. Benson also does the occasional clean vocals and has a lovely, mystic timbre similar to Lars Nedland (Borknagar).
Speaking of Nedland, the man actually features as a guest singer on “The Distance”, a song which takes a step back from the record’s usual violent approach by slowing down the tempo and focusing on atmosphere. Programmed strings and hypnotic guitar chords act as the aural equivalent of a cosy blanket, resulting in plenty of room for Nedland to take center stage and work his magic. On one hand, the track is a bit too reliant on the guest singer for my liking, and I would have liked to hear Benson’s cleans duet with Nedland’s, but it’s hard to complain when the result is as magical as this.
Unfortunately for Amiensus though, I am Dutch, so complaining is in my nature and will thus find its way through the narrow cracks in Reclamation Pt. II. First off, the mastering is slightly brickwalled. On the bright side, this gives the guitars and drums a lot of oomph, but the loudness of it all does become fatiguing to listen to after a while, especially so when listening to Reclamation Pt. II right after Pt. I. When the band pulls all the stops (which is often), the wall of sound that the guitars and drums produce buries the bass completely, and even the harsh vocals can struggle to find a spot in the mix at times, let alone Benson’s clean vocals. This plays a large part in my second complaint, which is that the songs tend to devolve in nonstop riff assaults and lack clear hooks. If riffs are enough to hook you, you likely won’t have a problem with Reclamation Pt. II, but otherwise, the vocal melodies struggle to remain above the surface. Amiensus also doesn’t repeat sections a whole lot, so it can be hard to find something to latch onto.
I always find it fascinating how expectations can shape how we interact with art. My classification-seeking brain struggled to place Reclamation Pt. II, starting from thinking of the record as prog black, later moving onto prog death, and eventually realizing it was both but not quite in the way I was used to from either style. Though it has some issues with the production being too brickwalled and a relative lack of clear hooks, the level of the performances and near endless supply of amazing riffs makes Reclamation Pt. II a definite winner.
Recommended tracks: Sólfarið, The Distance, Leprosarium
You may also like: In Vain, Hail Spirit Noir, An Abstract Illusion
Final verdict: 7.5/10
- Also known as being autistic ↩︎
- This is not a diss, mind you, I love all of those bands for that exact reason. ↩︎
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: M-Theory Audio – Facebook | Official Website
Amiensus is:
– James Benson (clean + harsh vocals, guitars, keyboards)
– Alec Rozsa (guitars, harsh vocals, keyboards)
– Aaron McKinney (guitars, vocals)
– Kelsey Roe (guitars, vocals)
– Todd Farnham (bass)
– Chris Piette (drums)
With guest(s):
– Lars Nedland (clean vocals, track 5)
