Occasus

Having owned this album for over a year now, I finally believe I'm qualified to review it. That alone should say enough about the depth and complexity of this music. This band has become a part of my life - there's good music, and then there's The Amenta, which feels otherworldly to me. The genre they play is undefinable, but it packs the most extreme elements of death, black, industrial, ambient, noise and every obscure style you can think of. All this combines to form an overwhelming, minimalistic storm of noise - it's highly technical, atmospheric and at times even clinical, but it's definitely noise - that consists of bloodcurdling vocals, inhuman blastbeats, devastating beats, eerie synths, dark atmosphere and dissonant riffs. When I hear it I feel it through my whole body, something which no other band has ever achieved.

The album kicks off with 'Erebus' - a beautiful, yet extreme blaster that immediately makes a statement; we are The Amenta, and we are not of this world. From there on every song is a highlight, especially 'Nihil' (the only song on the album with a normal, non-dissonant melody), 'Zero' and 'Sekem' (all song titles are just one word long, contributing to the overwhelming aura of the album). Then, after a piece of industrial/ambient called 'Senium', your room is blasted to pieces by 'Ennea' - the most intelligent blastbeater I've ever heard. It's atmospheric, extreme as fuck, complex and even catchy. This alone makes 'Occasus' a good buy. But there's more.

The final piece 'Sangre' has taken me a year to fully comprehend and appreciate. Now it's a song I'll never forget that strikes me with feeling every listen. And it's still extreme metal! It opens with a wall of lightning-fast drums, leaving room for an eerie noise and warped vocals on the background. The epic, apocalyptic work of art uses only two notes, but sounds more extreme than a dozen. After a repeat the metal kicks in in a heartbreaking wall of sound. The Amenta converts void into music on this track, and they deserve eternal respect for it.

This album is still underrated, but given the reviews on this site, people share my opinion. Go buy it quickly, because these Aussies need and deserve your support. I hope it will strike you as it struck me. Hail!

To get right to the point, I think I should explain from here on in that the definition of the music The Amenta play is subjective as to what area of heavy and/or extreme metal you are more interwoven with.

They have been called industrial black metal, industrial death metal and like Satyricon meets Fear Factory.
Personally I don't think that any of those easy labels quite apply here, as like Akercocke they don't quite stick to one genre.

Practically, I wrote this review here first because I feel that, especially considering the relatively unique aesthetic of Red Harvest, that there would be mutual appreciation of this band considering some of the similarities between the two.

For want of a more educated way of deconstructing the songs, I would say that they basically consist of death metal - quite technical in places - with distinctly industrial electronica toward the background and with a higher toned DM style vocalist, and often black metal sounding riffs interspersed amongst the death metal/ industrial flavourings.

Don't get me wrong, this is not as psychotropic or paranoia-fuelled as Red Harvest. I think this is a far more catatonic sounding breed of this new machine, with a more aggressive in your face approach than the almost carcinogenic narcotic effect of Red Harvest leaving you wanting more.

To some, The Amenta might just be written off as a gimmick as they use alias & prefer a degree of anonymity, but to others (hopefully the majority) they will be judged on their music...

Judged on their music, I say that I honestly like what I'm hearing and can quite unashamedly (hopefully) predict big things for this band to come.

The Amenta's debut, Occasus, definitely strikes a chord in the user from the very first track. They do well not only to create an immensely powerful album, but they create a great atmosphere, the kind of sound that just transports the mind. The opener grabs your attention, with an intense rhythmic assault of drums and guitars, a tight array of riffing over an constant battery of drumming. The next track continues the intensity, but shows more that these guys do have a good understanding of dynamics, and create even more intense transitions using that. After a couple more tracks of varying dynamic, including an ambient instrumental, the track that I believe makes the album, Nihil, comes on. This track is an immense churning beast of a song, dynamically destroying the auditory receptors with great power. It's atmospheric, yet it devastates in so many ways. If you don't want to hear the album, at least listen to this song. The rest of the album finishes strong, making one hell of an experience to listen through. This is a new kind of extreme, for a genre that may have alienated some avid fans with bands like Dimmu Borigr and Cradle of Filth. But all in all, this is an earth shattering debut, and hopefully we have much more to look forward to from an already great, and very promising, group of musicians.

Well isn’t this just what the extreme metal fan ordered? Talk about making a statement. I was aware of the potential that this Aussie quintet possessed, but little did I think that they would make such a dramatic leap into world-class territory so quickly. The Amenta are the real deal punters and “Occasus’ is going to go down as one of the more revered extreme metal albums of the year. Not just here in Australia, but worldwide.

The Amenta might be new name to most of you, but believe me their profile is about to explode. Forming in 2000, out of the ashes of some local Sydney metal bands, The Amenta are a simply stunning collaboration of extreme metal, the likes of which they only hinted at on the 2002 three track MCD entitled ‘Mictlan’. As a description, I am loath to label them. The word ‘extreme’ is ample enough. Synth player Chlordane thinks so too – “We certainly contain elements of Death, Black and Industrial but their definitions are too limiting when it comes to describing the multitude of sounds that we have captured on our album “Occasus”.

The Black/Death/industrial elements are most certainly part The Amenta’s song writing style. The likes of Emperor, Morbid Angel and Behemoth are names that come to mind immediately. Furthermore, the industrial/cyber/electronic part of the music sees the band traipsing the same destructive wastelands as Red Harvest and Strapping Young Lad. Yet, despite these obvious influences, for me at least, the tight, precision style riffage, the blistering speed and mechanical like hyper-blasting back beat, The Amenta have much more in common with the mighty Zyklon than anyone else. The aura of ‘Aeon’ is strong here.

‘Occasus’ is a thoroughly overwhelming listen. It hits (and hurts) like the proverbial sledgehammer. The production is nothing short of astonishing in its irresistible, all encompassing, yet slightly chilling impact. There is a phenomenal groundswell of demonic atmosphere throughout this disc that makes The Amenta sound all the more powerful and epic-like in delivery (hell, listen to the monstrous ‘Nihil’ and tell me that it doesn’t physically drain you. What a track!). The Amenta gives no quarter in their extremity, yet unlike some acts that pride themselves on their ‘extremity’ factor, The Amenta never lose sight of their song structure – this isn’t fast for fast sakes – The Amenta deliver with a meticulous exactness, each and every note perfectly transcribed.


I find it hard to fault ‘Occasus’. It is truly a devastating and thoroughly engaging listen. Musically, these guys have it all – the superbly executed Death/Black style guitar riffage from Ethion, the mind-blowing percussion (which just has to be triggered to some degree) from Diazanon (Dave Haley from Psycroptic), the sweeping keys from Chlordane and vocalist Cessium 137, whose raw, unearthly bellow provides the band with an incredible primal like feel.

Judging by photos on the discs multi-media section, it appears that The Amenta are conscious of the type of image they are keen to project. No doubt, the music comes first for the group, but visually the bands Dimmu Borgir/Cradle/The Kovenant like stylings is something that has been carefully developed. The Amenta have put together the total package, and their live performance should be a sight to behold.

‘Occasus’ has hit me for six folks. It is way beyond the expectations I had for the band. It is easily the equal of any other high profile band playing this style of cyber/industrial extreme metal (see those mentioned earlier). The impact in Australia will be extremely positive. However, as great as that fact is, it is the world stage that The Amenta are going to devour. Miss this band at your peril. Devastatingly good!!