The Gojira comparisons that abounded on their last album, Timelapse, were probably a blessing and a curse (”We don’t sound like any other band” is a favourite statement from many aspiring outfits) and this might explain why Et Liber Eris has toned down the nihilistic foghorn vocals of its predecessor. It’s also their first album with new singer Sami El Kadi, replacing Andrea Spinelli. In some ways Et Liber Eris is an extension of Timelapse. That record, too, was a tumbling maelstrom of left turns and multiple layers that pointed heavily to a desire to stick a rocket up progression’s arse, and now their ammunition is carried by the rumbling undertones of new bassist Cecilia Nappo. But Sami’s clean-sung counterpoint to Andrea’s roar is the distinction, allowing smooth, Alice In Chains-style croons to be sandwiched between his own take on a harsh style. The rambunctious clamour of prog metal is tempered in varied ways – the melodic sensitivity of The Coldwater, the breathy Tool stamp of The Unsaid, those Leprous-esque ‘Ahhh’s on Stainless. But this is not one of those metal bands gone soft – far from it. Adimiron are wracked with fist-clenching aggression but they’ve developed their brutal sound into a more cerebral and artistic ethic and the result rides the crest of prog’s newest wave.
For fans of: Mastodon, Opeth, Gojira
