With Members Based in Various Places, Ammonoid Bring a Different Take on Collaboration with New EP
With the power of the internet, it’s pretty wild how folks can get connected these days. Obviously social media plays a big part of it, but there’s also emailing and various chat platforms that people still use. When it comes to music, this aspect of technology can be utilized in unique ways when it comes to collaboration and hashing out fresh ideas. A stellar example of this is the metal act Ammonoid, which fuses the amplified style with elements of psychedelic, doom and progressive rock. This is evident within their Pierce The Veil EP, which is officially out today (May 3).
The amazing thing about this release is that vocalist Emily Palen currently lives in Paris while guitarist Vinaya Saksena is based in the small Rhode Island town of Warren, bassist Stephen LoVerme makes his residency in Somerville and drummer Randy Odierno has his home in Brockton. With Emma Newton serving as the engineer, the transatlantic endeavor was forged at Big Nice Studio in Lincoln. In a musical sense, there’s an abundance of energy and amplification coming from the instruments with Palen’s vocals having a distinct cadence and range.
“It’s intended to be a project with a combination of musical elements that I haven’t found anyone else doing, primarily influenced by Opeth, Elder and Messa,” Saksena says about Ammonoid and the new EP. “The idea is for every song we write to be a bit different from the others, drawing from a wide range of influences, but the primary ingredients are elements of doom, progressive rock and psychedelic music. The lyrics generally have a pro-social justice, anti-authoritarian message, but we try to convey it in a way that isn’t too preachy or overly topical. Ammonoid initially started as a virtual collaboration between myself and Emily, who is a very talented musician I connected with on Instagram. Although she’s mainly providing vocals for this project, she’s also a classically trained violinist.”
Soon after the initial interaction, LoVerme and Odierno were brought into the fold to supply the rhythms for the two-song EP, which features the title track and another ripper in “Heart Of A Bird”. To give the record a listen, check it out at the link below and turn up the volume.
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