Short Review: Amia Venera Landscape - The Long Procession (2010)

Post-Metal and Metalcore Going Hand In Hand

Amia Venera Landscape - The Long Procession (2010)

Recently, I was told about an Italian post-hardcore outfit with the name of Amia Venera Landscape (AVL from this point forward). A friend of mine linked me a song on Youtube, and I admittedly dismissed it as another Neurosis/Isis worship ritual. Fortunately, I was wrong. Three friends of mine and myself decided to listen to the album together through the 'net, and discuss it. I figured this would be a good opportunity to review the album briefly for the blog as well.

The Long Procession starts out with an explosion of relentless drumming and hardcore yells, making it seem like a typical metal album. However, as the music moves forward, we are treated to many different facets. Jazz-like progressions, enormous doom riffs, clean vocals layered over harsh ones, and prominently, extended ambient passages. This isn't your run of the mill post-metal album either. One of my friends proclaimed it to be "avant-garde post metalcore". A perfect description if there ever was one. The angst of this album is irrevocable, and features highly within the twists and weaves of heavy tracks like "Empire" and "Glaneces (Part II)", creating a gothic and dark atmosphere. The flipside of the ravenous metalcore riffing and yelling are long tracks like "Ascending" and "Marasm". AVL manages to create such soundscapes that can unsettle the listener and make them feel so dark and alone, while maintaining a heavy premise. At 66 minutes, the sheer scope of this album is huge. I'm very surprised this isn't talked about as much within modern metal circles, even though it is relatively new and AVL's only release. But, I digress. Whatever this Italian band has hidden up their sleeves, may be even more ambitious than such a great debut as this. 4/5

- Dave