Review Summary: An astounding EP from Polish Rock group ATME. Packed with atmosphere and aggression to boot.
Listening to this EP has been one Hell of an experience. I don't know much about the band other than what was put on their bandcamp page. What I do know is that I love this EP. Despite being only three tracks, this EP carefully balances the lines between soft/Ambient and Hard Rock, and blurs the lines between them to create something magical.
We start off the EP with
θ.Swamps prelude an ambient piece featuring sounds of nature (swamps mostly) along with soft percussion and low instrumentation that establish a small, but noticeable feeling. The audio quality of these songs are crystal clear, and you can hear almost every instrument as if they are layers on a cake that you can eat one at a time. A hypnotic quality to say the least. We continue with
α.Forgiving Myself, with starts off with a soft guitar until bringing out some drums and raspy, but defined vocals. The vocals I can say really put this song on the map, when he needs to be soft, he goes with a raspy/slow monotone, only to go straight Heavy Metal roar when the tempo heats up. The instrumentation is some of the best I have heard on a bandcamp release in a long while.
The final track is
β. Jungle and a brilliant start with string stretching and drums along with the soft vocals of the lead singer. These quickly elevate into the usual crescendo but escalates much more quickly. My only criticism or this song is its length which, compared to the previous two tracks, is relatively short and sort of messes with the atmosphere of the previous two. It is an excellent track regardless, and features brilliant guitar work along with some excellent vocals.
ATME is a band I am looking forward to, and this EP is proof that they have the stuff needed to go far. If I could sum up this band, I would say it is an odd cross between Uncle Tupelo, Pink Floyd, and Marilyn Manson. No seriously, it sounds like that.
