Amaltheia - Amaltheia

AMALTHEIA - Amaltheia (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

I am again impressed with a completely new band, whose debut album was recently released by the Godz ov War. This is Amaltheia with their debut self-titled CD and I have to say that it is a great piece of black metal. I have been spinning it a lot recently and it doesn't feel like I have enough of it. This album really is a fuckin winner for me!  

I haven't got much information about Amaltheia, to be honest, only that this is a band from UK. But these guys are completely anonymous to me, there's not even a band pic available... So, I won't be writing anything about the band itself. As for the album though, there's about 33 minutes of insanely good black metal on "Amaltheia". Stylistically, this is not your old, traditional black metal though. I would rather say that Amaltheia plays a sort of "modern" style of black metal, especially with all that dissonant riffage and general ambience of the music. I think that there's a lot of influence coming from the likes of Deathspell Omega and Kriegsmaschine in it, although Amaltheia's music is not as difficult to memorize nor it is as complex. But the vibe, some riffs and the profound, profane aura are quite alike. What works better for me, speaking of Amaltheia, is that their music has a more straight forward, uncompromising style and that despite some more progressive parts, it is just easier to get into. And above all, that it sounds powerful and is full of rage. I love that density of blasts, the viciousness that this music brings, but at the same time how well written it all seems, with a nice transformation from that fast-paced black metal to mid-paced stuff.  

Blasts do dominate over these 33 minutes of music, which gives a nice kick and a lot of energy, but I am not sure if I would put Amaltheia next to such Funeral Mist. But do we even “Amaltheia” need all these comparisons? All I want you to know is that there’s great music on this album, I love the riffs, vocals and that dark, eerie atmosphere surrounding it all. The production and musicianship are fantastic too (forget about unlistenable black metal primitiveness)… This album impressed me entirely. I have no idea then what else I can write other than it is a must to have. Favourite song? It may be “Dawn”, but they’re all equally good, to be honest and there’s no weak stuff on the album.  

Verdict: 85/100