HeavyHardMetalmania: AMENRA´s monstrous “Mass V”

I hear sounds of past born of black art, ritual cries with a dense crudeness, whispers claiming vast lands wrecked by war, songs invoking the spirits of men whose spilled blood forever stained Wissant. I hear AMENRA´s monstrous “Mass V”.

Formed in West-Flanders, Belgium the down-tempo influenced band Amenra has been spreading since 1999 an explosive atmosphere of sludge metal in the underground community sharing with their audience more than music a higher experience, an artistic performance of live rituals with obscure visual effects. Amenra is not a simple quintet contemplating Bjorn L. Lebon (drums), Lennart Bossu (guitars), Mathieu J. Vandekerckhove (guitars), Colin H. Van Eeckhout (vocals) and Levy Saynaeve (bass); they form a group of visionaries with multiple gifts called Church of Ra and in addiction to their musical career they offer their artistic talents such as sculptures crafting, painting and photography with a dark and disturbing mark but yet imperious. They use their art in their stage acts for live visuals to take the viewers in a deep journey through the supernatural and crushing histories that their music calls on.

Amenra evolved constantly in the course of time and their works as also performances have matured with experience and skill. They are an ambitious, confident and strong band hungry to show their vision of postmodern music, a vision that differs from the usual standard of what music is. We are used to listen to well worked and flourished compositions in a general manner and somehow we are linked by a common knowledge which define us as a whole. The truth is that we shouldn´t define music cause there are no limits to what it can be and Amenra is the living proof of this fact. Their slow-tempo rhythms, repetitive chords, unusual progression of the sounds, calm atmosphere which becomes savagely dense, poetic words, visual effects and ritualistic performance breaks the common knowledge of what music is and opens new horizons to the listener.

After a handful of works released such as six splits (“Prayer 8: Offerande”- 2004; “Gameness/Amen Ra/Gantz/Vuur”-2004; “Amenra/Hitch”-2007; “Amenra/Black Heart Rebellion”- 2011; “Amenra/Hive Destruction”- 2011; “ Amenra/Oathbreaker”- 2011), three EP´s (“Prayers 9+10”- 2004; “ Mass II: Sermons”- 2005; “Afterlife”- 2009), one compilation (“Mass III- II+IIII”- 2009), one live album (“Live”- 2012) and three full-lengths (“Mass I: Prayer I – VI”- 2003; “Mass III”- 2005; “Mass IIII”- 2008), a new full-length album called “Mass V” is going to see the light of day at 27, November on North America and at 26, November on Europe through Neurot Recordings to distort once again the notion and concept of music as we know it.

Their newest studio album “Mass V” was created in La Chapelle Studio engineered by Billy Anderson and is nothing more than an enlightening voyage through Wissant a village in North France where Amenra found inspiration to its creation. They found a land that still feels the wounds of a dark past, a land destroyed by the World War II. They found what they need to give life to a solid work with the proper dark essence to do justice to their poetic vision of music. The result is a four movement work that gives forty minutes of the deepest obscure music, forty minutes of the deepest doom atmosphere with a constant melodic vibration, forty minutes of a slow tenebrous ambient, forty minutes of brutal music afflatus.

“Mass V” begins with the song “Boden” a melodic beginning with an exotic riffing that after two minutes gives place to a huge heaviness of sludge with loud shouts and compressed distortion that blows your mind with its intensity. After this explosion the music suffers many modifications becoming calmer with a poetic speech and returning to the heavy and chaotic atmosphere. “Dearborn and Buried” is the second song of the album with 9:14 minutes of down-tempo metal to offer; this song unleashes doom noise at a gross pace, it´s the darkest and heaviest song of the album. The third and fourth song are called “A Mon Ame” and “Nowena|9.10” respectively and are a masterpiece of music, a complex composition of sludge metal with many influences almost in the line of the progressive, always mutating to a new environment (must listen).

Amenra are undoubtedly finding their place in the world and their inspirations, talent, hard work and above all outsatnding live performances are creating a solid base of fans. With “Mass V” they are a step closer to achieve a great mass of followers and to spread their visions.

One melee with the words, ideas and its paradoxes... albuns that are news, the reviews at "HeavyHardMetalmania.net", always with its watermark, Pedro Ribeiro, with love for beer... sorry, music from an early age, he studied piano and singing from 7 to 14 years, then, devoted himself to the study of the guitar for 5 years. "The wisdom is found in the extremes, all extreme Metal here!"

Boden

Dearborn and Buried

A Mon Ame

Nowena I 9.10

“Nowena I 9.10” lyrics:

the darkest hours will seem long
they will feel like for ever
then new light breaks into dawn

novena burns for my brothers at night
a flame that burns the bodies of light

brothers burn. I see the fire in their eyes.

the past is your now
the present now passed

now is the time

(everything awaits you and the light will let you)

“Boden” lyrics:

carry within

a fear

that blossoms on skin

forever alone

sorrow says

bury my bones

carry within

regret

for everything

tear old pain away

I renounce this day and

I renounce every wound

made in my flesh

made by my flesh

are you awake? what did you see?

I'm a sudden hissing,

right behind your ear.

a white noise

but it's quiet now

I am reason

I am fear

inflict.

I call out

and you fear me

I call out

and all the brothers in the world they hear me

but the pain remains the same

AMENRA will release Mass V in Europe on November 26th and in North America on November 27th, their first release as part of the Neurot Recordings family. Today, the CD version of the album is available for preorder. Orders for the standard CD pressing can be placed now direct via Neurot, while the special, limited edition colored CD version (black top/black bottom) signed by the band and containing additional artwork and can be ordered from Soulslayer. The vinyl version of Mass V will be available for preorder in the coming days.

AMENRA Confirmed Live Rituals:
12/01/2012 Db’s – Utrecht, NL @ Le Guess Who Festival w/ Oathbreaker [info]
12/22/2012 Ancienne Belgique – Brussels, Belgium *record release show w/ Oathbreaker, TBHR, Scott Kelly [info]
1/11/2013 Machinefabriek – Groningen, Netherlands @ Eurosonic Festival
2/10/2013 De Kreun – Kortrijk, Belgium [info] w/ Eleanora
2/16/2013 Perron – Ieper, Belgium @ Winterfest
2/22/2013 Burgerweeshuis – Deventer, Netherlands w/ TBHR
2/24/2013 Mod – Hasselt, Belgium w/ Hessian
4/19/2013 Patronaat Church – Tilburg, Netherlands @ Roadburn Festival [info]

European Tour 2013:
4/25/2013 Glazart – Paris, France w/ TBHR
4/26/2013 Epicerie Moderne – Lyon, France
4/27/2013 Boulevard Rock Club – Misano Adriatico (RN), Italy
4/28/2013 Traffic live club – Roma, Italy
4/29/2013 Lo Fi club – Milano, Italy
4/30/2013 Gaswerk – Winterthur, Switzerland
5/01/2013 Arena – Wenen, Austria
5/02/2013 Feierwerk – Munchen, Germany
5/03/2013 Conne Island – Leipzig, Germany w/ Syndrome
5/04/2013 Klub Firlej – Wroclaw, Poland @ Asymmetry Festival
5/05/2013 Bi Nuu – Berlin, Germany
5/26/2012 Stuk – Leuven, Belgium w/ Oathbreaker