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[Photo by Josh Fields]
“…truly bone-crushing…” – BrooklynVegan
Stream / Share AMIENSUS’ “Iconoclasm” HERE.
BrooklynVegan is currently streaming “Iconoclasm,” the latest single from Minnesota-based progressive black metal collective AMIENSUS. The tune comes by way of the band’s anticipated new full-length, Abreaction, set for release October 2nd via Transcending Records.
Mixed and mastered by French-Canadian acoustic guitarist Antoine Dufour, Abreaction is an amalgamation of all AMIENSUS material to date – the vastly acclaimed melody of 2013’s Restoration, the progressive highs of 2015’s Ascension, and the brain scrambling heaviness of 2017’s All Paths Lead to Death – rolled into one, fifty-five-minute attack on the listener’s perception of heavy metal. The concept of Abreaction pertains directly to the name of the album – that is, the expression and emotional discharge of repressed emotion.
BrooklynVegan crowns “Iconoclasm” “truly bone-crushing,” while lead vocalist/guitarist James Benson (Chrome Waves) adds, “‘Iconoclasm’ is the heaviest track on the album – which is a call back to 2015’s Ascension, our last LP. Lyrically, it’s one we also consider one of our masterpieces and on a topic we’ve been fascinated by since our teenage years when we began playing music together.”
View the lyric video for AMIENSUS’ “Iconoclasm,” courtesy of BrooklynVegan, at THIS LOCATION.
Find previously released singles, “Drowned” and “A Convocation Of Spirits,” at THIS LOCATION.
AMIENSUS‘ Abreaction will be released on CD, vinyl, cassette, and digital formats. Find physical preorders at THIS LOCATION and digital preorders HERE.
Forged in 2010, AMIENSUS has been releasing diverse albums spanning multiple genres. 2013’s Restoration is an atmospheric black metal must-have while its followup, 2015’s Ascension, was a well-received and well-polished continuation, exploring even more stylistically soft and heavy musical avenues. 2017 brought with it lengthy EP, All Paths Lead To Death, which saw the band drop some of the heavy orchestration in favor of more melodic death and black metal passages. Since the release of their first album, AMIENSUS has embarked on international tours with the likes of Ashbringer, Wolvhammer, and Abigail Williams. The young but experienced group now enters their tenth year as a band, and with the tools and skills to change their sound on a whim.
“The mood on ‘Drowned’ is that of awe and subservience to forces greater than any one person can restrain – the song relishes in its own gradual build as well as the smooth delivery of clean vocals to counterpoint the harsh ones. AMIENSUS teeters carefully on the balances created by such contrasts, as they always have, but now see increased cohesion and more delicate songwriting.” – Invisible Oranges on “Drowned”
“Undeniably heavy and hammering, the song is also panoramic and entrancing. And it’s not entirely electrified – the band have included acoustic guitar and cello melodies in ways that will be familiar from the previous version of the song, combining them with the punch of the drumming and the wrenching intensity of the shrieking vocals…” – No Clean Singing on “A Convocation Of Spirits”
“…a fantastic release… Harsh, angry tones combine with pretty, ambient moments, but it’s the placement of these various moments that makes the album as strong as it is. At its core, it is depressing music, but in a beautiful way.” – Metal Temple
“AMIENSUS thrill with their raw dynamism, the eagerness that they throw themselves into the fray. This is a band who oftentimes sit in a league of their own… a masterful black metal offering.” – Two Guys Metal Reviews
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