Azure Emote breaks silence.
Five years after its last release, the project led by Mike Hrubovcak (vocals/keyboards/samples, Imperial Crystalline Entombment, House by the Cemetery, ex-Vile, ex-Monstrosity…), Ryan Moll (guitar/bass, Total Fucking Destruction, Distant Dominion…), Mike Heller (drums, Black Hole Deity, Malignancy, Raven, ex-Fear Factory…), Kelly Conlon (bass, Piss on Christ, ex-Death, ex-Pessimist, ex-Monstrosity), Pete Johansen (violin, Art of Departure, ex-Sirenia) and Anna Murphy (vocals, Cellar Darling, ex-Eluveitie) has signed with Testimony Records to unveil Cryptic Aura.
James Murphy (ex-Death, ex-Obituary, ex-Testament), Andy La Rocque (King Diamond) and Bob Davodian (ex-Divine Rapture) contribute solos.
The album kicks off with Into Abysmal Oblivion, a fast and violent opening track that immediately displays its sonic oddities thanks to the violin and keyboards, giving it a unique identity. The leads are not to be outdone, naturally taking over from Mike‘s roars, but Insomnia Nervosa quickly takes over to captivate us with its hypnotic orchestrations, which the band combines with virulent accelerations. A few prog patterns also appear, as on the energetic Aeons Adrift, where the musicians let loose, allow us to breathe, then race off again towards Bleed With The Moon and its initially melancholic sounds, which are adorned with visceral fury until reaching an agonizing break. The silence is obviously broken by violence, but it is with a heart-wrenching violin that we reach Defiance Infernus, an impressive and massive theatrical composition that suffocates us as much as it fascinates us, and whose destructive phase is calmed by an unsettling break. We move on to Provoking The Obscene, with its female backing vocals adding a mystical touch to the powerful rhythm, but the track retains its few sonic oddities before handing over to Disease Of The Soul, which skillfully places its catchy harmonics. The jerky riffs remain very effective and lead us, after a confusing final, to Feast Of Leeches, which plunges us back into violence, but also into their intriguing web of trippy sounds, leading us to Return To The Unknown, by far the most accessible composition, which gives pride of place to female vocals, creating a most interesting duet between Anna and Mike. The track becomes more brutal towards the end, but it is forced to let Writhing Lunacy close the album with sounds worthy of a horror movie soundtrack, judging by the screams of terror that accompany the increasingly insistent percussion.
If you’re expecting pure, unadulterated Death Metal, Azure Emote will surprise you, astonish you, and probably confuse you. While Cryptic Aura obviously keeps its violent elements, the album doesn’t hesitate for a moment to venture off the beaten track.
75/100