Âme Noire // The Tree That Bears Rotten Fruit [EP Review]

Michael Dixon
Jul 2, 2018
2 min read

Band: Âme Noire

Release: The Tree That Bears Rotten Fruit EP

Area: Melbourne, Australia.

Date of release: 13/07/2018

Genre: Melancholic Death Metal

Reviewer: Michael Dixon

Record Label: Independent

Mixer: Alex Bell

Masterer: Lance Prenc

For Fans Of: The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel, I Valiance.

Next Gig: The Prometheus Unbound Tour. Reverence Hotel, Melbourne. Saturday July 28th, 2018

“It's not a question of my sanity but rather why did I devote myself to this belief when the depths of my depravity extend through my disease…I bend and break under the weight. A blood debt paid to cleanse my shame. Forever fucked I shall remain” – Slave To The Grave

Âme Noire are a Melbourne-based Melancholic Death Metal band which contains former members from Athena’s Wake (Vocalist Alex Hill, Guitarist Alex Bell and Bassist Toby Thomas) and Epimetheus (Guitarist Grant McGuiness and Drummer Aaron Hernyak). After releasing the title track from this EP back in October 2017, the boys began to focus more on lining up live gigs and upcoming tours. But it didn’t take long for them to return to the studio to finish writing, recording and producing the rest of the EP.

In February 2018, the band unleashed their second single from the EP “Slave To The Grave” which is a brutal assault on the senses. Alex Hill’s vocal range is dark and menacing with impressively deep lows and screams so fast that it will give most listeners whiplash. The heavy chugging, alien-like experimental samples, thunderous drum beat and huge metal guitar solos really push the boundaries musically and they easily rise above most local bands in the death metal genre.

The remainder of the EP follows in a similar vein stylistically with the slow-building, atmospheric and tense opening track 'What Lurks Below' setting the tone. The technical metal riffs mixed with pounding drums and a vocal delivery that swings from terrifying growls to powerful screams are very much the qualities that sell this band. 'Immurement' and 'The Wayward Home' are probably the most experimental of the bunch which has several shifts in tempo, some unsettling whispered/screamed vocals from Alex Hill and some acid-tripped sounding melodies dispensed throughout the tracks.