Aminals

WWW.AMNLS.COM Consider the average life expectancy of the typical local metal band, and what causes them to eventually fizzle. The definition of "success" to a band is what sets Aminals apart. Being completely DIY from the start, Aminals had built quite a name for themselves, and has for some time now been considered a "staple" of the Boston heavy scene. Despite a consistent and growing demand for more, Aminals would self-produce a song or two, every couple years, or whenever it was *convenient*, at best. They were never really the types to market excessively on social media, or market much at all, for that matter... instead preferring to take the enigmatic route and remaining at times almost completely under the radar, even going on hiatus completely for a few years. The platform was always a tongue-in-cheek mockery of how dreadfully serious the modern heavy musician takes himself, these days. By the time 2012 had rolled around, it seemed most bands...particularly in today's heavy realm, wouldn't do much of ANYTHING at all relating to actual music, anymore. The bands that garnered the greatest success, it seemed, were the ones that could wrangle the most "likes", the most "shares", use the most clever marketing techniques on whatever social media platform they could. Aminals, completely in spite of this art-void business machine approach, decided to focus their efforts and finally (again, self-produce) a real full-length album. Again, with no PR, no label backing, no tactical social media campaigns, and virtually no marketing whatsoever, the Internet's reaction was staggering... and, completely unexpected. Almost immediately recognized among Metal Injection's top 10 albums of 2014, Aminals better-late-than-never debut full-length "Dead Air" was flooring critics and blogs everywhere. Heavyblogisheavy named "Dead Air" their "favorite debut album of 2014". Realizing that they had, against all expectations, created something that had amassed a significant buzz, Aminals is now determined to stand above the pre-recorded backing tracks and cheesy viral media campaigns of modern heavy music - and do it the old fashioned way. Reviews: -"These days I’m so used to watching burly metal dudes on stage. Beards, stains, denim vests and 3 weeks of tangled unwashed hair type of thing, regardless of the sub genre they play. So I was already intrigued by the handsomely clean cut dudes of Aminals setting up on stage, but watching them play is what turned me into an immediate fan. Erratic structured hard core is their game, and they play it very, very well. They have a full length album on the way, and I can’t wait to see them blow up."-Frank Godla -"Thanks to Metal Injection, I stumbled across one of my favorite new bands this year. Equal parts chaos and tongue in cheek behavior, the debut album from Boston noise merchants Aminals, Dead Air, is a collection of short blasts of spastic metal mayhem. I can’t get enough of their no frills approach to writing guitar orientated modern metal. I will not stop championing this band, just try and stop me. Metal is only ever this fun when the guys from Every Time I Die are involved. You just have to check out the video for ‘Dirty Habits’ to get a feel of exactly how these guys operate. In terms of just how good the album sounds, every instrument is crystal clear, with a dirty, low slung bass popping in and out between sharp guitar licks.The vocals are wretched and vitriolic with some impossibly catchy hooks thrown in for good measure. A debut album for the ages, and yes, it is spelt Aminals. (Matt MacLennan)" -"Metal Injection premiered the full stream of the album last week and I figured it was my due to share my thoughts with you, our beloved readers. Dead Air is a product of over two years of hard work, culminating in one of the most exciting half hours of music anyone will hear this year. The band play an exhilarating brand of hardcore, thrown into the proverbial blender with jazzy guitars, big grooves and some ingenious song writing. Each song on the album has an energy and identity of its own, something which I’m sure you will agree is increasingly difficult to find today – ‘Rope’ has a monstrous groove throughout, ‘War Widows’ goes harder than a Danza riff at a Dillinger hoedown while album closer ‘Less People’ brings everything down with dissonance and creeping guitars. I quite frankly love the vocals here, think Protest The Hero‘s Rody Walker and Greg Puciato fighting over a microphone and you get the picture. What is so damn invigorating about this band is that from start to close they never give up on putting their own inspirations and innovation into every track. It is the culmination of many years of being together as a band and the finished work of a group of guys who simply love music and you can feel that, you really can. At this point I am looking back over the year and looking at records that I gave 4’s and 5′ to and, frankly, Dead Air quite simply blows a lot of these out of the water and will not need to fight too hard to make it into my favorite albums of 2014. Don’t just give this band a chance, give them your full attention and you will come away a better, sexier person. Guaranteed." -"Frenetic. Desperate. Scathing. These are a few words that came to mind watching Aminals, a staple to the Boston music scene in their own eclectic way, pairing the guttural, primal vocals from Matthew Cugini with the pace of a freight train. I don’t believe this band has a slow song in their arsenal; at least they didn’t play any Thursday, which makes for an exceptional live set that adds to their wild stage presence. If a band like Glassjaw paved the way for exuberance and technicality on stage, a band like Aminals sets the bar higher, demanding every bit more from the audience."- Larry Wentworth AMINALS 2015