The Amenta - Non
Listenable Records - POSH108 - 20 October 2008
By Paddy Walsh
These Australian industrial extremists caused a minor stir back in 2004 with The Occasus, which was a great stab at cold, clinical blackened metal with an industrial overcoat. Non builds on that success, and what's offered is a heady mixture of chaotic industrial noise and cold black metal-inspired harshness. Red Harvest are probably the most obvious comparison perhaps, although Zyklon's fantastic World ov Worms debut also occasionally creeps in on a few death metal moments. Elsewhere the cold black metal recalls Satyricon circa Rebel Extravaganza. 'Entropy' even goes so far as to introduce some gabba beats in there, perhaps a nod to fellow Aussies The Berzerker.
Yet unlike their fellow countrymen, the fusion of metal and noise welds together to form a coherent and oft-enthralling whole. The songwriting is concise, as is the production, and if the whole thing sometimes sounds like it might become buried under its own density, well that kind of adds to its industrial credentials. Cuts such as 'Slave' tend to creep and swell malignantly, like Skinny Puppy with added guitar, occasionally busting forth into a flurry of blastbeats and black metal riffing before stepping back into slower, darker territory. It's all rather engaging actually, making Non a consistent and exciting proposition for those on the lookout for a successful black-industrial hybrid. The clinical nature of this release may put off those of you looking for something, say, more organic, but then not all bands can be Negura Bunget now, can they?
Official The Amenta Website
Official The Amenta MySpace
Official Listenable Records Website
Listenable Records - POSH108 - 20 October 2008
By Paddy Walsh
These Australian industrial extremists caused a minor stir back in 2004 with The Occasus, which was a great stab at cold, clinical blackened metal with an industrial overcoat. Non builds on that success, and what's offered is a heady mixture of chaotic industrial noise and cold black metal-inspired harshness. Red Harvest are probably the most obvious comparison perhaps, although Zyklon's fantastic World ov Worms debut also occasionally creeps in on a few death metal moments. Elsewhere the cold black metal recalls Satyricon circa Rebel Extravaganza. 'Entropy' even goes so far as to introduce some gabba beats in there, perhaps a nod to fellow Aussies The Berzerker.
Yet unlike their fellow countrymen, the fusion of metal and noise welds together to form a coherent and oft-enthralling whole. The songwriting is concise, as is the production, and if the whole thing sometimes sounds like it might become buried under its own density, well that kind of adds to its industrial credentials. Cuts such as 'Slave' tend to creep and swell malignantly, like Skinny Puppy with added guitar, occasionally busting forth into a flurry of blastbeats and black metal riffing before stepping back into slower, darker territory. It's all rather engaging actually, making Non a consistent and exciting proposition for those on the lookout for a successful black-industrial hybrid. The clinical nature of this release may put off those of you looking for something, say, more organic, but then not all bands can be Negura Bunget now, can they?
Official The Amenta Website
Official The Amenta MySpace
Official Listenable Records Website
