AMMIFY
Lost, Not Hiding

With this review it is my first foray into the relatively new genre – cinematic metal – and I have to say I have been very curious about what such a combination would sound like.

The album giving me my first experience is “Lost, Not Hiding” by AMMIFY, an Australian duo to be released by Wormholedeath on 14.06.2024.

Yes, you read that right, two people have created this album: Ammy Phoenix, the singer and songwriter, and Peter Renzullo, who looks after all the instrumentation and production. And what an incredible job they have both done considering it was all done remotely.

The album is preceded by two singles with accompanying videos, those being “Coward’s Way Out” and “The Truth Will Set You Free”. There is also a video available on YouTube detailing the creation process of making an AMMIFY song.

There’s a lot of storytelling here dealing with serious subjects such as heartbreak, depression, mixed emotions, soul baring and isolation, but there is also the feeling of resilience to overcome the worst of times and come out the other side. The album title gives a clue to the subject matter.

Cinematic – yes I’m convinced. There is so much going on within each song being like it’s own blockbuster movie. The remarkable instrumentation combined with the incredible variation in the vocals and the telling lyrics leave no stone unturned. Repeated listens are required to take it all in and I’d recommend playing through a good set of headphones or on a good quality stereo system.

To give you some examples, track 9 – “Grief” – is such an emotional song with Ammy using her voice as it’s own instrument over a melancholy backing evoking feelings deep down from her soul. If the listener is not moved by this then they have ice in their veins. “Involuntarily Celibate” is the perfect track to follow “Grief” and Ammy is having a catharctic release cleansing herself emotionally. Then there is track 12, “The Canary”, a tale of hope with the undeniable urge to carry on against the multiple obstacles in her way.

Well, to sum up my first experience with cinematic metal or CineMetal (as Peter calls it) has been a very positive one and I’m thankful this album has been my introduction. A remarkable creation by two very talented individuals and to be on a label where it will get the deserved worldwide attention leads to a bright future.

Highly recommended for fans of the different variations of metal, such as progressive and cinematic.

Peter Sym