I always liked to introduce some lesser known bands, even if they're already dead, buried and forever forgotten. Here's one such band, which I have been familiar with since I got a 4-way split titled "Obscure Infinity" released in 2004 by Nihilistic Holocaust. Among four bands, which participated there, one especially caught my attention - Amethyste from France. And this band did one full length album "Thrown Off Balance". A very good album, if you ask me. A completely unknown and overlooked effort, but this is solid death metal, which should catch your attention.
Amethyste have a very, very strong influence of Morbid Angel in their music, especially from their "F" and "G" albums. This influence is obvious so much that even guitar leads will remind you the guitar masturbation of Trey Azaghoth, not to mention the riffs’ style he invented. And vocals are a lot like Steve Tucker. That similarity can be something either good or bad, depends how you treat bands like Amethyste. I don't mind that they sound like another band, as long as the music is fine. And "Thrown Off Balance" is absolutely good, solid album, so no problem here. The songwriting is very good, Amethyste came up with a bunch of songs, which I think perfectly fit the Morbid Angel-esque style and quality, the music is vicious, dark, fantastically aggressive, fast and powerful. Every band member shows great technical skills, drumming and guitar work are all perfect and there's really nothing to complain about that aspect. I definitely like the fact that these songs sound quite memorable. This is brutal death metal, but riffs are pretty distinguishable and song structures are not too complicated. I also love guitar leads - they sound fuckin sick! And faster songs like “World of Perverstemptation” or the slowest, most impressive and crushing piece titled “Modern Times Syndrome” do give a fantastic impression of very skilled band, so the bigger shame is that Amethyste split up so early. “Modern Times Syndrome” is especially a noteworthy piece, it’s ten minutes long beast filled with absolutely killer, vicious riffage and dark, disturbing atmosphere. Amazing song.
The only thing, which I don't like so much about "Thrown Off Balance" is the production of this album. It sounds a bit too clean and artificial to me. Drums are terribly triggered and guitar tone lacks deepness and crushing heaviness. You could get used to it after a while, but it should have been better, heavier and more massive.
So, a very good album from Amethyste. It's a shame this band didn't get more recognition and split up some time later. But if you ever find this CD, get it. Check also my old interview I did with the band back in 2006, pretty cool stuff.
Standout tracks: “World of Perverstemptation”, “Modern Times Syndrom”
Verdict: 75/100
No comments:
Post a Comment