I just came back from a wicked drum and bass party @ Nighttown Rotterdam. With a huge lack of energy, all I’m able to is sit down and relax. After only a few hours of sleep in the last two days it’s a good time to check out and chill with the debut album Snapcase from the Dutch band Ambiossis.

 

Ambiossis is a young four headed band. They’re officially together since 2003. You can imagine they’ve been quite busy since then. From their first gig in 2004 their climb on the ladder heading to the top begun. They started off pretty good winning different music contests all over the country.

 

Their music is described as a mix between (crossover/emo)metal combined with  funk, rap and hip-hop. For some reason it reminds me off Smogus. Compare to the metal, the rap and hip-hop influences are minimum.  For me it sounds more like a sort of (nu-)metal mix.

 

Snapcase begins with a sort of electronic/tribal/ambient intro song witch gave me a twisted prospect of their music. Especially when their second song Delerious began with rough metal riffs and a scream that sounds a bit like a coffee machine making overtime. Later on the album you’ll figure out exactly what their style is.

 

Their songs are built up pretty good. I like Remove The Dirt a lot. It’s starts very melodic and contains that ‘easy to listen’ factor. Their songs are not built on one theme. I like that way of composing. It’s makes it thrilling to listen to not knowing what you will get later on in the song. All together it’s nice. It’s not really original but does that always have to be?

 

The only thing that I really don’t like about Ambiossis is the grunting. I do like combining melodic singing with a scream for now and then. But when I hear this scream I almost think that the singer wanted to have a blackmetal band instead. On the other hand, his clean singing is quite okay. In total the production is also done pretty well. Though I think the music does not always comes out like it should. That it does not live up to it’s promises all the time. Still this band is going in the right direction. So keep an eye on them!

 

For those who want to see them live, go check them out on:

- December 3th 2005 @ Middelburg – ‘Midgard’

- December 16^th 2005 @ Assen – ‘Roarfest2005’ – Rockcafe DocX.

 

Love, 

Maurits