You'll need to be a real connoisseur of extreme metal to appreciate this one. The Amenta's style of death metal is unwavering and undiluted. No progressive twiddling here, no melodic pianos and no slow doom metal sludge. This is straight-ahead industrial-strength stuff, driven by a machine-like double-bass, tight riffs and intensely angry grunting that hints at no melody and offers not a single clean-sung note.
The songs are well structured, and it would all be too intense without the slower paced black-metal styled sections in some tracks. The execution is tight, the riffs are somewhat unorthodox and the percussion is so precise you may suspect a drum machine. This album may be all about growling vocals and distorted guitars and machine-gun percussion, but every one of those dirty notes plays through wonderfully clean production that allows every grinding note to wallow in its own space.
The judicious use of sampling lends an interesting atmosphere to some tracks, and the keyboards are effectively ambient and pose no threat to the dominance of the guitar/bass/drum set.
Occasus is standard death metal done well. If you're into pure death metal you'll love it – these Australians have delivered one of the more extreme albums we've heard in a long while, ranking alongside Norway's Emperor and America's Morbid Angel. Just don't expect much in the way of melody – it isn't that kind of music.
Track Listing:
01. Erebus
02. Mictlan
03. Zero
04. Senium
05. Nihil
06. Geilt
07. Sekem
08. Occasus
09. Ennea
10. Sangre
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