Summer Series Part 8: Amenra - Mass IIII
If you're into heavy music you're probably at least aware of Amenra, the Belgium hardcore kids with the riffy and hypnotic albums all titled "Mass." Their new album, "Mass IV" (or "Mass IIII?") picks up with more of the same that they're known for.
What I've always liked about Amenra is that they really sound like a European hardcore band as much as (if not more so than) a crushing metal band. They have that real straight ahead, stripped down quality I associate with the best European cust and hardcore.
Their records tend sound real tinny and mid-rangey, like those first couple From Ashes Rise records. At first this bugged me. I mean, this is supposed to be heavy music, right? Where's all the rumbling low end? Heavy music often lives and dies, in part, by the sound quality. Without some decent sound to punch you in the gut it's hard to get the full effect of something.
Returning to Amenra later, after my initial disappointment, I realized that the more I listened to it and made the connection to stripped down European hardcore the more I began to appreciate their records for what they are. I now kind of think that the crunchy sound on their records actually goes a pretty long way to separating them from other bands of this genre, along with the shrieking vocals that sound more like something off of Rorschach's second LP rather than anything Neurosis has ever done.
I love it when I see a band live and it changes the way I listen to their records for the better. When I saw Amenra a few months ago they absolutely crushed. Once again, they had this stripped down presentation. Just some guys, some guitars, and some rock. A lot of bands of this genre (including my own band!) tend to layer their sound with all kinds of samples, keyboards, noise, etc., but Amenra just fucking played like they meant it. It was pretty refreshing to see these short-haired, European hardcore kids just pounding the fuck out of their instruments and making this wall of noise. It forced me to go home and listen to their records with a new set of ears.
I'm sure that a lot of people reading this have already heard Amenra, but if you haven't, or if you haven't picked up the new record yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. They're one of my favorite bands doing this kind of thing, and if you can get passed how stripped down they sound compared to their peers, you'll be treated to some pretty crushing awesomeness.
Not the most professional video of them, but I think it captures them the best.
