AMYGDALA

Band: AMYGDALA

Genres: Punk / Emo / Screamo / Hardcore / Thrash / Doom / Skramz / Sheer Terror
Related artists: N/A.
Country: San Antonio, Texas USA
Years Active: 2014-present
Song: "Forever Love"
Album: "The Horror of Never Being Able to Forget"
Year: 2014
Label(s): React With Protest / Off Cloud Nine / Trends Die
This post's artist is from the December 2014 Mix. This is track #12.
You can download the December Mix#12 right here or get the new January 2015 Mix#1 here.
For fans of: Tentacles, Among Light, Welcome The Plague Year, La Luna, Guidelines, мища, Yusuke, Deadseraphim, The Spirit Of Versailles, The Truth About Dreaming, Crestfallen, Hospital, Gas Up Yr Hearse! and Deers! aka PROPER SCREAMO.

AMYGDALA caught my attention first when Jose (guitar) posted about his new band online and cited Welcome The Plague Year as an influence - that's all I need to spark my interest. After checking out the demo track I was excited for their initial release. Fast forward to now and I've jammed the six songs from 'The Horror of Never Being Able to Forget' am impressed, but I'm much more intrigued by what the band will do next.

Let's quickly talk about what they sound like. Shrieky. Fucking shrieky. Two drummers. Grindy. Chaotic. Sludgy. Dark. Each song varies between about one and three-something minutes. "One Joy will Scatter a Hundred Sorrows" lets the listener know that this won't be a pretty ride. It's abrasive, acidic as well as unrelenting and at 2:05 the heavy breakdown kicks in just to remind us that the band, although new, can write some pretty big stuff. "Forever Love" is my personal favourite that boasts the best thing the band has written, aka the section from 1:21 to 2:10 with an echoing instrumental section and vocals that are placed with jigsaw accuracy and laced with the audio equivalent of venomous tendrils. Another standout track is the 1:39 "Punk has No Room for Misogynists", which yet again hits the mark at 1:08 after a nice lead in and, much like "Forever Love" which slows it down with an epic outro not far from Swan Of Tuonela and Angel Eyes territory. I'm also a big fan of "Neurodegeneration". As far as I know the band's lyrics are inspired by psychology, as the vocalist is studying such and "amygdala", in case you were wondering, is the integrative center for emotions/motivation in the brain.

There is one thing I hope gets cleaned up for AMYGDALA's sophomore release is the vocal volume. I like shrieky vocals but they kinda blare out of the speakers and permeate through the song in a way that detracts from the instrumentals. It's kinda like Tentacles' 'Isolation is a Gift' release, which I love (especially the drumming) but the cymbals are so loud that they can drown out the other amazing stuff that is going on. Complains aside, great debut. I believe this demo is being issued as a 7" vinyl on React With Protest, Off Cloud Nine and Trends Die Records. The band has also been touring a bunch so catch them when they hit your area by checking their facebook page.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2014/2015 - The Horror of Never Being Able to Forget digital/cassette/7"EP (stream/donate/download here)

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(2014) AMYGDALA - "Forever Love" (from 'The Horror of Never Being Able to Forget')

(2014) AMYGDALA - "Forever Love" live video

(2014) AMYGDALA - "Punk has No Room for Misogynists" (from 'The Horror of Never Being Able to Forget')

(2014) AMYGDALA - "Neurodegeneration" (from 'The Horror of Never Being Able to Forget')

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AMYDGALA additional links

Bandcamp

Facebook

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