Sensory Amusia – Bereavement (Review)

Sensory Amusia are an Australian death metal band and this is their latest EP.

Prepare for 17 minutes of mayhem and carnage! Sensory Amusia play modern death metal smashed together with crushing deathcore and savage grind. The end result is a very engaging slice of ferocity, and is a tasty treat of technical deathgrind bliss.

This is modern extremity, recalling a mix of bands such as Dying Fetus, Job for a Cowboy, Aborted, Antigama, Benighted, Xenobiotic, and others, in varying amounts. There’s quite a bit going on here.

The music opts for an aggressive approach that marries together savagery and restrained groove. The mid-paced parts are heavy and crushing, while the faster sections sound more feral in nature. The songs are brutal and sharp, while also retaining a sense of melody and enough moments of accessibility, (for the style), to be easy to absorb. Sensory Amusia essentially combine the more popular side of death metal/deathcore with a more extreme grinding side, stitching the songs together into a tapestry of heaviness and brutality.

The band obviously know how to play, and their music is quite technical in places. This is most apparent on parts of Pain, which helps the song stand out in this regard. Pain is probably the song where Sensory Amusia sound at their most individual, I’d say, although this shouldn’t be taken as detrimental to the rest of the songs, as they all have their merits and good ideas. Earth Rot‘s vocalist guests on one track too, which is no bad thing at all.

What a strong little release. Topped off by a punchy, powerful production, Bereavement has the sort of well-rounded package that should appeal to many a fan in the modern extreme metal arena.

Very highly recommended. I can’t wait for the eventual album; if it’s as enjoyable as Bereavement then it’ll be worth the wait.