Amnion

Cryptic Wanderings

Oniric Records 2008

Spanish underlords or obscure and morbid black metal, Amnion unveil their debut full length album on Oniric Records.  Conveying a mood and atmosphere similar to early dissection yet with a rawer, more bestial approach.  The Dreadful Martyrdom of the Most Cruel has a nocturnal melody howling across a sawing rhythm.  Blasting drums serve as a sharp jolt to the ears in this oppressive darkness.  Sarnad's vocals are varied and his main style is dry and raspy like a withered corpse calling from the grave.  Yet he continues to balance that method with a more shouted style.  The next track, Towards Desolate Places My Wanderings Lead has more cold riffs and jackhammer drums which is a continual trend throughout the album's seven compositions.  Like a military march at double time the percussion on In Sarna We Trust drives the song forward at a speedy militant pace for the early stage of the song.  Then a violent almost thrashing main riff kicks in with deadly force.  Insane blast beats are the next force to assault the listener.  As with each track this one goes through a steady progression of temp changes and riff combinations.  Sounding almost like a accidental break in the song the next son, Sick of the Light picks up almost exactly where the pervious one left off.  Luckily, the riff changes with a lightning fast blizzard of freezing melodies and drum fills.  I am not a big fan of the drum production on this album and the Cymbals are a little too noisy at times.  Though I predict the songwriting will only improve with time and the production problems will be ironed out.  While far from original, I still find interesting ideas and bone-chilling riffs catching my ear within the chaotic abyss.  Amnion is true raw and primitive black metal yet somehow they seem full of an evil essence and have a distinctive old school feel that is somewhat of a union of South American raw aggression and Swedish buzzsaw melodies.