Âme NoireThe Tree That Bears Rotten Fruit

Melancholic death metal: perfect for the cold snap that’s absolutely destroyed the southern states. Âme Noire load their debut EP with enough black to choke like rotten fruit.

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You’d be forgiven for thinking that an I, Valiance-esque breakdown will punch through in What Lurks Below. Âme Noire are more black metal than deathcore in that aspect, as they shirk the beatdown and layer an almost Nancy Sinatra Bang Bang guitar twang. All the while the double kicks are pounding.

It’s a niche that Âme Noire are in to be sure, but they’ve found themselves comfortable in it.

Actually the latter is the best description of The Tree That Bears Rotten Fruit. This isn’t the pummel we’ve become accustomed to: rather than a big ol’ knockout, Âme Noire keep a flurry of punches aimed at the chest. We can actually hear the bass ping out in Slave to the Grave (groovy riffs and a bouncing low end will confuse casual head bangers). Ditto that for The Wayward Home: a slight dosage of china tings to get us primed, and we lurch from kvlt church burning to frenzied bloodletting. The repeated Black soul/hail horror rings out like a Victorian nursery rhyme; well, if masked plague doctors sang it with glowing eyes that is. It’s a niche that Âme Noire are in to be sure, but they’ve found themselves comfortable in it.

STANDOUT TRACKS: The Wayward Home, Slave To The Grave, What Lurks Below
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