Artist of the Day: Amia Venera Landscape

Rollicking metalcore riffs, with as much ferocity as a derailed freight train? Diminished chords, striking as bolts of lightning against an otherwise serene landscape? Me expressing apparent fanboyism? These three things all lead to one conclusion: Amia Venera Landscape, the Italian metal act that dropped jaws everywhere in late 2010. Sure, their debut album The Long Procession was released a tad too late to appear on most music critics' Best Of 2010 lists, but none of us have forgotten the group's landmark debut.

Listen to this monolith for free here. 

And now for some very exciting news - Amia Venera Landscape has announced the release of their sophomore full-length! It'll be coming out at some point this winter, so we won't have to wait much longer. The group also claims to have written more than 90 tracks in the last year or two, which is exciting but also a bit disconcerting. After all, The Long Procession was amazing, but it may have lived up to its title a bit too much through its 70-minute runtime. Everything the group touches is gold, though, so perhaps I shouldn't worry.

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Amia Venera Landscape

Amia Venera Landscape are an Italian progressive metalcore band. Many people often cringe when hearing a band described as 'metalcore' -- the genre has been overflowed with scene bands rocking angular haircuts in the past few years, plagiarizing each other's work. However, Amia Venera Landscape are one of the few modern metalcore bands (Dead and Divine, Oh, Sleeper, Counterparts, August Burns Red) playing solid, interesting music. Tracks such as "Empire" lean on the heavier side, reminiscent of a mixture of August Burns Red and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Others such as "Glances (Parts I and II)" lean towards a more Underoath vibe, albeit a slightly more progressive version. While not bursting with creativity by any means, Amia Venera Landscape have perfected their sound and it's one which is actually distinguishable from other bands. Though this might not seem like much of a feat to most, in a scene inundated with copycats, Amia Venera Landscape are a breath of fresh air.