Amentia are a death metal band from Belarus, and this is their third album.
This is technical/brutal death metal that features a member of the very enjoyable Disloyal. This is underground and very brutal. There is, however, more to this band initially might meet the eye.
Amentia have a distinct streak of technicality to them; this is passionately delivered with some atypical riffs and avant-garde/dissonant elements. The songs on Scourge see the band carving out a brutally engaging mixture of styles, all played with uncompromising aggression and lethal, focused barbarity.
Scourge merges the modern style of death metal, as espoused by bands like The Faceless, with non-standard Meshuggah influences, and a healthy dose of Suffocation-styled brutality.
I keep returning to the word brutal, I just can’t help it. For all of the other elements here, (and there are a fair few of them), this band have brutality stamped firmly onto them down to their very core. All of the melodic, avant-garde, and dissonant elements that appear on this release are only really there to enhance the band’s brutally aggressive delivery, and it all works a treat. Scourge will flay you alive and mash you up, both at the same time.
The lead guitar work is infectious and sharp, while the bass is untamed and wild, seemingly wandering where it wants to. The drums and vocals are both inhuman, with the former setting a daunting pace and performing all kinds of time-change gymnastics, while the latter provide consistently ultra-deep growls that seem to echo in your soon-to-be-smashed skull.
If the high-gloss delivery of some of modern death metal’s finest is too much for you, and you prefer something that revels in the murk, while still providing the modern listening style, then Amentia are ones to get acquainted with.
Scourge is an impressive album released by an impressive band.
Wonderbox Metal 