review: Atavistia

Atavistia

The Winter Way

29 May 2020

The Canadians have their sights set on lofty artistic goals. The keyboards/symphonics project into their sound the desire of film score. The guitars place a great deal of emphasis on memorable melodies, as the band seeks the sensation of epic compositions in their music. While for the casual listener there might not be a difference between this music and any other extreme album, this band expresses more skillful and artful forms, even though there are still extreme vocals as a fundamental part of the sound. The young band does not hide its love of the Finnish band Wintersun, and the melodic singing is in that style, too. Unfortunately, some Wintersun fans have overreacted emotionally in thinking the Canadians as “unoriginal,” crediting to Wintersun an exaggerated sense of “originality,” perhaps out of ignorance of the history of symphonic/orchestral elements in rock/metal going back to the 1960s; of melodic black and extreme metal in general; of growling/singing styles, and other components found in Wintersun.

This is a young band and they made a consistent, solid and competent album that is very promising. In time, they might surprise themselves and the fans as they make the journey and find out for themselves if they have the willpower, strength and stubbornness to survive the frustrations, joys, financial losses, and the stress of being in a band (not to mention dealing with the negative, broken, often jealous individuals on the internet that are so quick to dismiss your life’s work as a musician). Surviving that journey can make them tougher, even more determined, and there is reason to think that much greater things await this band. Don’t pay attention to the cynics, listen to this band for yourself. They are just getting warmed up.

Atavistia - The Forbidden One (Official Lyric Video)