Anamensi – Descending The Ruins of Aura

Anamnesi
Descending The Ruins of Aura
Released: September 2012
Atmospheric Black Metal/ Dark Ambient
Released via Naturmacht Productions

‘Descending The Ruins of Aura’ is the second album by the Italian black metal artist Anamnesi. It is the follow up to the band’s self-titled debut released in 2010.

So, after an atmospheric and tranquil keyboard ‘Intro (First Descent)’, we head towards darker territories with ‘Litany of Suffering and Reaction’ treating the listener to some sombre melodies along with rather raw sounding black metal vocals and guitar riffs. Yet there’s a certain eerie beauty linked to this rawness as it contrasts with the melodic elements such as the ambient keyboard part in the second half of the song.

If anything, it’s actually the dark ambient parts on here that make this band stand out. Take ‘Nocturnal Path’ for instance, it’s the little touches like the melodic keyboard tunes and the frosty atmospheric elements which make this instrumental memorable. Then there’s ‘Toward Rebirth’ which reminds me of Burzum at times, though this is less raw and there is a significant difference in the vocal style. One of the album’s main highlights is the tranquil-sounding, ambient ‘Annega La Conscienza’ which features guest vocals from Simulacro’s Xul whose part whispering part screaming style seems to be a perfect fit for this track.

Speaking of Burzum, this album ends with ‘Ciò Che Una volta Era’ – a tribute to the infamous Norwegian black metal project. This is quite possibly the rawest dark ambient track on here and even the vocals sound remarkably different to the other songs.

3.5/5 – There’s beauty in rawness and it goes by the name of Anamensi.

Iza Raittila

Anamensi – Descending The Ruins of Aura (valkyrianmusic.com)
Agael/ Lebensnacht (split) – Apathologie (valkyrianmusic.com)
Solstheim – II (valkyrianmusic.com)
Devilish Impressions – Simulacra (valkyrianmusic.com)
Hell United – Aura Damage (valkyrianmusic.com)
Flagellated Seraph – Beyond Salvation (valkyrianmusic.com)

This entry was posted on 30th August 2012 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Review with tags Black Metal, Burzum, Dark ambient, Descending The Ruins of Aura. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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