Few bands in the modern Melodic Death Metal space have managed to rise to impressive heights in the same way that Amnio have. Debuting in 2023 with their impressive ‘The Entropy Within our Hearts’, quickly followed by the split with peers Astral Decay and Shenk quickly cemented them as a band to keep a watch on. Their ability to craft vibrant, high-powered Melodic Death Metal with a triumphant feel was a breath of fresh air in a genre that felt incredibly stagnant not so long ago. The call for even more material has been heeded with the release of their first full length ‘Psalms of Immortality’.
Already compared to their previous releases, this album feels like a drastic shift of tone. Both the EP and split were outputs that were more indebted to the very early strain of Melodic Death Metal that took hold in North America towards the end of the 90s/very early 00s. In other words, Melodic Death Metal made by hardcore kids without strictly falling under the Metalcore label – bands such as The Black Dahlia Murder or the very underrated The Year of Our Lord (covered on the first EP). By contrast, ‘Psalms of Immortality’ is an homage to the songwriter’s (Lucas Lazar) favorite band – Intestine Baalism. While I assume most of you reading will be reading will be familiar with them, the Japanese band has become a cult act through their impressive meld of Swedish Death Metal (both Stockholm and Gothenburg) with the more brutal sounds of New York Death Metal.
Amnio follow in these footsteps brilliantly, treading the path of both juggling melody with brutality. On one end, you have the chunky, rhythmic sections characterized by deep-tuned bass mixed with complex guitar riffing that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Suffocation album. Yet those brutal and pummeling passages are very quickly interrupted by a sudden burst of melody either through harmonized riffs or wild, soaring solos that completely throw you off-guard. While the vocals are primarily on the low guttural end, there are many instances of shrieked vocals that add an additional layer to the music. It’s a delicate balance but one Amnio has no trouble mastering. Even the mixing is done in such a matter to resemble the Japanese titans, opting for a production job that gives the music an extremely murky and dark atmosphere without burying anything too deep.
There are many great examples of how well this balance is maintained throughout the album, but one track that particularly exemplifies this is the track Devouring Gold; a song that quickly jumps from slams and pinch harmonics to tremolo picked riffs in a short span of time. A similar feel can be derived from the title track, which features none other than Kenji Nonaka of Intestine Baalism fame to lay down some eviscerating vocal work. We also see the collaboration of new Melodic Death Metal stars Upon Stone and Astral Decay on ‘Tiamat, Shining’, the former contributing vocally and the other with a stellar guitar solo. Yet for me the absolute highlight of the record is the glorious ‘Tales of Dim Eden’. The whole track is a wonderful chaotic blitz of twin guitar melodies and furious blast beats that eventually crescendos into an explosive guitar solo that elevates you into another plane.
For having started not so long ago and the young age of the ensemble, Amnio has done an incredible job of creating an album that makes them one of the most promising acts in a subgenre that has often been ridiculed by certain sectors of the Death Metal fanbase. If you ever needed a reminder that melody and Death Metal can be married without sacrificing the grit and intensity of the genre or were looking for bands to continue the lineage of Intestine Baalism, this is for you.
