Finally back in print...

Like Cult Of Luna, there isn't a whole lot of mystery as to where Amenra are copping their sound from; as soon as one of their monolithic riffs kick in, there's no mistaking the Neurosis/Isis influence on their sound, and these Belgians essentially mine the heaviest elements of both - the chunky, percussive mono-chord riffing of early Isis and the slow-burning, sky-blackening riff-towers that Neurosis perfected on Through Silver In Blood. There's a reason why Amenra have gathered a fanatical cult following over in Europe, however. These guys aren't just another Neurosis ripoff band...they've taken that pounding, epic sludge and turned it into something far bleaker and more sinister than either of their influences, and I can't think of another band that has put such a crazed spin on this sound.

Back in the 1990's, several members of Amenra played in a band called Spineless that was tied in with the notorious H-8000 scene in Belgium. The H-8000 bands took the concept of combining hardcore and metal to a whole new level, and lots of the stuff that was coming out from that scene was essentially brutal thrash metal infused with a hardline straightedge and vegan philosophy. Most of the bands that were involved with that scene disappeared, but around the turn of the decade, Spineless was recreated as Amenra, taking their ferocious metalcore and jacking that into a heavy Neurosis influence. The band began to align themselves with a sort of spiritual consciousness that was later documented in a self-published, 166 page book (!), and their music evolved into a much heavier version of mid-90's Neurosis, tuning lower and adding colossal amounts of heaviness to their riffs...and their riffs were phenomenal. Definitely one of things that makes this band so great. Sure, they sound a lot like Neurosis and Isis, but they come up with riffs that are so crushing and powerful that it doesn't phase me at all. It's like hearing an evil, blackened, ultra-downtuned version of Through Silver In Blood, with freaked-out, hysterical vocals a la Jacob Bannon from Converge and an extremely economical approach to the riffs. A single song (which rarely comes in under ten minutes) usually centers around a single, punishing riff that the band coils tighter and tighter as the song progresses, and their music takes on a hypnotic intensity through their use of repetition, even when they launch into a fucking bludgeoning riff that sounds like Godflesh busting out some Kyuss at 12 rpms, blotting out the sun with the sheer mass of their sound. And they add some cool unique touches, like ethereal female vocals and deep, dramatic male singing that sounds a little like Maynard Keenan from Tool, passages of dark jangly indie rock that build into heavier sections, and on their latest album IIII, some slightly more complex and progressive song arrangements. They never sacrifice the heaviness, though. Ever.

Previous Amenra releases were released on European labels like Hypertension and have been pretty tough to get over here in the U.S., especially without having to pay an arm and a leg for them, but Init has put together an immense double disc set that collects both 2005's III and 2008's IIII as well as their two song EP from 2003 and an additional track that had previously only been available on vinyl. This set is a killer collection of Amenra's best recordings to date - both of these albums rank as some of the heaviest sludge/doom metal I've ever heard, and all of this stuff is essential listening for anyone who's already hooked on their punishing black hypno-tribal-dirge.

Killer packaging that has the two discs secured inside of a customized z-fold digipack that includes most of the artwork from both albums, and the digipack itself fits inside of a slipcase. Very cool.