Despite the Dimmu Borgir looks, this Aussie act is an altogether different beast; With Behemoth like riffs and vocals, later day Emperor’s sweeping like musicianship and synths and Scarve’s cyber/industrial structures and approach, The Amenta are certainly culling a wide variety of influences but they give it enough character and flat out industrialized vitriol to make it sound impressively unique. Granted, at times they do come across as Dimmu’s industrialized persona from Puritanical Misanthropic Euphoria when they slow down, but generally the album careens by with a churning metallic, robotic ambience that’s neither forced or overbearing. Drummer Diazanon (otherwise known as Dave Haley from Psycroptic and Ruins) delivers some rather triggered and mechanical sounding drums that fit the bands overall mood, and vocalist Cessium 137 has an impressive earthy bellow similar to Behemoth’s Nergal, and it keeps the album slightly more grounded in death metal’s more subterranean sound rather then cyber black metal (Mork Gryning, Lunaris). The pummeling material of the 10 songs all sound very familiar and almost run together into one long soundtrack-esque barrage, which actually benefits the album as a central sound is constant rather than random injections of extraneous elements for the sake or artistic development. Other than the industrial FX tracks, “Senium”, “Occasus” and the undulating and ominous “Nihil”, the album is essentially a continual and powerful display of churning blast beats laced with sweeping cyberorchestrastion-not too heavy on beeps and whirs but atmospheric enough to identify the band as industrial in their leanings. The synths of Chlordane are sweeping, yet discordant and suitably futuristic without being carelessly overbearing, Isthan’s grandiose compositions with a mechanized sheen is the obvious comparison. The industrial extremism instantly begins with the explosive “Erebus” and continues through “Sangre” with little or no letdown. The relentless assault of the album is perfectly implemented to not be boring or so repetitive you become disinterested, the abrasiveness is delicately balanced to pulverize you like extreme G's without grating (The Berzerker), and with just enough snippets of cosmic grandeur (“Mictlan”, “Ennea”) for you to catch your breath. The piston like percussion of Haley drives the band, but in true mechanical fashion, the whole machine is well oiled and tuned perfectly to deliver maximum power. The marching pace that injects during “Zero” could be Dimmu’s “Puritania”, but it deftly introduces some synapse destroying time changes and blast beats. The monstrous “Nihil” is just a colossal, lumbering track that’s dense, lurching pace grinds like giant gears heaving and grating to run some kind of giant war machine. The rest of the tracks just pummel with a mechanical ferocity of a jackhammer, noticeably the utterly feral, yet clinical savagery of album closer “Sangre” with its supernova explosion of sheer power and subsequent cosmic lull. Occasus is a mighty impressive debut album that isn’t as astral and “spacey” as most cyber/futuristic metal and has more than enough pummeling mass to please death metal fans. Ripper.
[Erik Thomas]