Band:	Atræ Bilis
Album:	Aumicide
Style:	Technical death metal
Release date:	April 2024

01. Protoxenesis
02. Hell Simulation
03. Salted In Stygia
04. Inward To Abraxas
05. To Snuff The Spirit Guides
06. Aumicide
07. Kingdom Of Cortisol
08. A Monolith Aflame
09. Through The Hologram's Cervix
10. Excruciate Incarnate

Atræ Bilis are a set of Canadian technical death metallers, so surely they should know a thing or two about the genre, am I right?

Joining Canada's ever-growing list of quality technical death metal acts is Atræ Bilis, who formed back in 2018. Three years following their establishment, this technically talented foursome released their full-length debut Apexapien, an album that received quite a positive reception in the world of technical death metal. Now let's fast-forward 3 years to the band's sophomore effort Aumicide, featuring original members Jordan Berglund (vocals), Luka Govednik (drums), and David "Dave" Stepanavicius (guitars), with the only change in line-up being Miles V. Morrison (bass), who replaced Brendan Campbell back in 2022.

Well, with cover art as equally disturbing as this one here, one might expect an uneasy listening experience, with extremely ferocious and technical songwriting, and themes along the lines of cosmic horror, maybe? If that's what you're expecting, then you're partially right. Now, there's more to Canadian technical death than just ripping guitars, blistering bass, insanely rapid drumming, monstrous growling, and simply being able to play all those elements at a lightning breakneck speed (unless we're talking about Archspire). For instance, there are those with a more obscure avant-garde touch like Gorguts, then there's those who opt for a more melodic approach like Quo Vadis, or the slamming brutality of Cryptopsy. This scene has a lot to offer, but where does Atræ Bilis's Aumicide fit in?

Well, the album actually features all of these elements, reaching every end of the spectrum, and to no surprise you're met by an exceptionally high level of technical musicianship. Opening track "Protoxenesis" acts as a ferocious introduction, featuring guitar work that ranges from chugging djent to semi-melodic riffs, as well as featuring explosive shredding leads, and a relentlessly rapid and complex rhythm section, plus brutal gnarly death growls. This song then effortlessly flows into "Hell Simulation" and subsequently "Salted In Stygia"; it's as if these three tracks are set as one, and another instance of this effortless kind of flow is the transition from the instrumental synth/lead guitar-based interlude "Aumicide" into "Kingdom Of Cortisol". The final two songs, "The Hologram's Cervix" and "Excruciate Incarnate", are of a similar scenario, where one flows seamlessly into the other, finishing the album with the same level of extreme technicality and brutality with which it all began.

There are several songs that for me stand out, the first being "Salted In Stygia"; here's an instance where all the elements previously mentioned gel together on a single track. The instrumentation varies from extreme technicality, to slamming brutality, whilst maintaining a reasonably high level of groove, and there's the occasional background cosmic-style synth work which only adds more dynamics to an already dense multilayered structure. Another highlight is "Inward To Abraxas"which is among the most melodic and memorable tracks here, and is also most varied structurally, taking a more progressive route with its sudden abrupt tempo changes.

All in all, Aumicide is undoubtedly an impressive sophomore effort. Whilst Atræ Bilis don't quite deliver a Cryptopsy level of brutality, or match the high melodic levels Quo Vadis, or even perhaps the pure technicality of Beyond Creation, they do a grand job at merging elements from each of these acts together. There are so many top-level musicians out there in the technical death metal scene right now, and Atræ Bilis have proven here that they can certainly be up there amongst the best in the business.