Aptera Premiere “Mercury” From You Can’t Bury What Still Burns
Heavy-hitting multinational conglomerate Aptera release their debut album, You Can’t Bury What Still Burns, June 17 on Ripple Music. There is no time for screwing around as the ostensibly-Berlin-based four-piece crash into what turns out to be a mid-paced groove on opening cut “Voice of Thunder,” soon enough shifting into a speedier verse topped with echo-laced barking vocals of bassist Celia Paul, which along with the sharpness in the guitar tones of Michela Albizzati (also vocals) and Renata Helm, are early clues to the metallic foundation from which Aptera are working. Oh, and when drummer Sara Neidorf blasts out the d-beat on “Unbearable Stain” — that’s another big clue. But really, Aptera aren’t shooting so much for subtlety as for give-yourself-a-concussion-headbanging, so take that as you will. Their sound across the eight songs and 40 minutes of this first full-length is an aggressive amalgam of thrash, classic doom, classic metal with just an edge of heavy rock groove worked in. They effectively shift between one side or another of their approach, varying their angle of attack more than the overall, more encompassing mission, and bring to mind at points earliest Trouble — looking at you, “Days of Void” — Slayer, Kreator and others from the sphere of ’80s thrash, be it the rawer Californian style or more Teutonic precision.
Primarily, You Can’t Bury What Still Burns is a heavy metal razor slice, second cut “Selkies” following “Voice of Thunder” with nod and gallop in kind, a sense of pushing itself toward what “Mercury” and “Unbearable Stain” will shortly reveal was a false edge of extremity while still managing a vital hook. Slow-Slayer vibes and vaguely Eastern guitar howls persist, resolving in a riff that tells me someone in the band has an affinity for the first couple Death records — no argument on taste — and “Selkies” is emblematic of the apparent ease with which Aptera bring together these seemingly divergent impulses into a vigorous whole. “Mercury” (premiering below) is gruffer vocally and a bit more methodical in its pace, but holds its tension well at the start and when the double-kick drumming and fret-runs start in the second half, that underlying sense of composition serves the proceedings well, with each song on side A serving as a point in the build en route to the relative onslaught of “Unbearable Stain.” The side A apex works not entirely dissimilar from “Mercury” just before, but pushes further, is madder, and lets the comparatively serene “Cosmosis” — like some of High on Fire‘s triumphant instrumentals earlier on, but less raw, with just a hint of Sabbath — cap the album’s first half with its own rousing but not overblown finish, setting up the more atmospheric turn side B will soon enough take.
With just three songs to side A’s five, the balance is on time as “Days of Void” (3:46) is shorter than anything on side A and both the penultimate “When the Police Murder” (5:45) and closer “Nepenthes” (8:20) are longer. All three are album highlights, and like “Mercury” and “Unbearable Stain” before them, they readily lay claim to a swath of microgenre aspects while bringing them together in their songwriting rather than simply resting them alongside each other — “this is a doom part, this is a thrash part,” etc. — in a more engaging an individualized take. “Days of Void” and “When the Police Murder” — more political commentary in heavy underground music, please — are dark and gritty in a way that feels wholly modern despite their pointedly classic influence, and “When the Police Murder” hints at melodic complexity that answers back to some of the guitar work on “Cosmosis” while holding firm to the abiding crunch throughout You Can’t Bury What Still Burns. That is, you’d still be right to call it metal. Very metal. Heavy metal. Like all of a sudden you’re wearing a spiked armband and you don’t even know where it came from. Watch out for nail pokes with that thing, by the way.
The real-world placement of “When the Police Murder” — because yes, they do — isn’t to be understated. More than “Mercury” or “Selkies” or even “Voice of Thunder,” it puts the listener in the here and now in a way that feels particularly bold so late in the record, and one can only hope it’s a model Aptera will continue to develop as they move forward. Same applies to “Nepenthes,” which across its eight minutes — slower in parts, faster in others, as you’d hope — offers both a more atmospheric approach even in its early going and circle-pit run even before it hits the halfway point. Backing vocals integrate smoothly, solos are shredded, and they bring it all down around a final twisting chug that only brings to mind how far they just ranged into noise and chaos, echoing almost-chants and layers of melody topping wailing guitars and crashing drums, still a slow march into that cold finish which, like the start of “Voice of Thunder” has no time either for its own bullshit or yours.
You Can’t Bury What Still Burns is righteous metallurgy for modern heads. It’ll fit well alongside the classic metal-worship of Haunt or whoever else, but demonstrates as well a complexity that goes beyond sore-neck fodder and a cohesion that speaks both to their high level of craft and their potential to progress from here.
Enjoy “Mercury” on the player below, followed by a band quote about the song, preorder link and PR wire info:
Aptera, “Mercury” premiere
Aptera on “Mercury”:
“Mercury is about pain as an inevitable part of life and the fact that we have to accept it and let it go through our bodies and souls instead of spending our lives trying to escape from it. The topic of communication breakdowns / difficulties are also central in the song. Hence the reference to Mercury retrograde: according to modern astrology when the planet of communication, Mercury is in (apparent) retrograde motion from the Earth’s perspective, we experience confusion, misunderstanding, and communication issues. It’s easy to get stuck in a negative vortex or rut, but we have to learn to live with things that are out of our control. “The pain you feel is just part of the deal.”
Preorder: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/you-cant-bury-what-still-burns
In Greek mythology, APTERA was the site of the battle between the Sirens and the Muses, where the Sirens lost their wings and were cast into the sea — the Greek word “aptera” literally means “wingless”. The incarnation of Aptera is not one of defeat, but rather a cry of rebellion and of challenging establishments, taking flight and pushing forward despite opposing forces. But this Berlin-based foursome (with members hailing from Italy, Belgium, the US, and Brazil) is less of a contest and more of a raucous party. APTERA sonically revamps this clash with a tasty tornado of doom, sludge, psych, thrash, and classic metal blended with punk. Joining the sirens and muses at the table are a coven of reanimated witch spirits and a gang of man-eating mermaids with a healthy appetite for destruction.
With Michela Albizzati on guitars and vocals, Celia Paul (Arde) on bass and vocals, Sara Neidorf (ex-Brian Jonestown Massacre, Mellowdeath) on drums, and Renata Helm on guitar, APTERA’s lashing riffs and propulsive rhythms evoke elements of Mastodon, Windhand, Neurosis or Black Sabbath. Weaving together contemporary and mythological tales of rebellion, revenge, and rising from the ashes, Aptera is a guttural cry, a battle call, a resurrection with wings of fire.
After their self-titled EP (2019), they will release their debut LP “You Can’t Bury What Still Burns” via Ripple Music in June 2022. It was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jan Oberg at Hidden Planet Studio in June 2021, with an artwork designed by Brokesia Studio.
APTERA is
Michela Albizzati – guitar, vocals
Celia Paul – bass, vocals
Renata Helm – guitar
Sara Neidorf – drums
