Album Reviews : The Amenta – n0n

The Amenta are brutal as fuck. Fact. Their debut album – Occasus – which gave us a destructive introduction to the bands electronically industrial death metal, was hailed from both at home in Sydney and Australia, along with fans right around the heavy metal world. Deservedly so it must be said. The question however, as with any band whose first album is hailed such, is can they follow it up? And after four long years, it is now time for The Amenta to answer this question with their latest album ‘n0n’.

There is no doubt that with this new album that The Amenta are keen on sticking to their guns with the sound they have manufactured. Sheer brutality confirms the death metal basis of the album. And the signature industrial guitar tones/samples that spread their mind altering machinery through the mind of the listener appear in mass amounts. However what I think is the highlight of the album is the ‘Dave Haley 101’ class put on via the drums. His drumming skills, as developed through years with Psycroptic and various other projects, is heard in all their double kicking blast beating glory. I feel that he really keeps the album together, the pulse beating throughout the whole album with groove laden blast beats and lots of work on the lower end toms.

Given the up-front brutality contained within the album, the one part of n0n that seems kept back from the spotlight is the vocals. Sporting a new front man on this album, there isn’t a really a great change in style. Perhaps it could be said his vocals are a little rougher or raw than on ‘Occasus’, and at times they also get a little lost behind everything that’s happening with the music. The artwork deserves mention for its complete suitability for the music contained within the case.

One of the better releases I’ve heard this year, however I think that compared to their previous effort, the album is just a little touch behind, though still worthy of many repeated listens. An exciting live bands aswell, so be sure to check The Amenta out in both forms! 7.5/10

For fans of: The Berzerker, Akercocke, Behemoth, Zyklon

Band: The Amenta
Album: n0n
Year: 2008
Genre: Industrial Death Metal/Grind
Label: Sightline Records/Shock Records
Origin: Sydney, Australia
http://www.myspace.com/theamenta

Track listing:
1. On
2. Junky
3. Vermin
4. Entropy
5. Slave
6. Whore
7. Spine (Reviewers choice)
8. Skin
9. Dirt
10. Atrophy
11. Cancer
12. Rape