Amenra – Mass V (2012)

Four years have passed since the band’s last opus title “Mass III”, this enigmatic band from Belgium is finally back after a series of split releases and an EP with “Mass V”. In this crushing release the band brings their in-your-face Doom/Sludge to Neurot Recordings and delivers a release that will put them in direct comparisons to early Neurosis and Year of No Light.

The first blow is the delivered by the monolithic “Boden” and it’s very natural and unnerving progression. When the powerful riffs finally make their appearance, the listener is well into an hypnotic trance thanks to the tracks slow progression. The screams are pretty typical of a Sludge release, but it’s the drifting guitar work that really hooks the listener into this song.

Keeping the dosage of distorted guitar riffs and a very slow and painful tempo, “Dearborn and Buried” deliver the second blow of impeccable Doom/Sludge Metal from Amenra. Featuring a very well-crafted tempo, the song gets really creepy when the clean vocal ‘chants’ some in half-way through this 9-minute track. Our favorite track of this release has to be the apocalyptic “A Mon Ame”. The progression of this track is truly haunting and the climax is just brilliant and disarming, by far the best song in this excellent release.

Closing with the very weird “Nowena I 9:20”, the band first starts with a very imposing calmness that suddenly explodes into extremely aggressive screams (almost like on suicidal Black Metal releases) and extremely harsh riffs. This balances out as the song progresses, and while unconventional, it really takes the listener out of their comfort zone and closes the album on a very high note.

As one of Neurot Recordings new signings, Amenra finally gets the chance to showcase their intense and devastating music. With “Mass V” the band delivers four excellent Doom/Sludge Metal tracks that no fan of the genre will ever dislike. We are particularly impressed by this release and we are now more than ever looking forward to seeing the band live at Road Burn 2013.

Release: November 26th, 2012

Genre: Doom/Sludge Metal

Country: Belgium