Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Amenta, The - Revelator (2021)

With industrial metal being one of the least listened to sub-genres for me, this month’s feature release risked passing me by like most others often do. Two things drew me to Revelator in the end. Firstly, the strange looking album artwork. Secondly, Daniel’s high praise for the band (borne out in his excellent review). Now, clearly, I have no reference point for Revelator in terms of a comparison to other The Amenta releases and as such, I can judge it solely on its merits as a standalone release. After several listens, I am not totally sold on it still but that is not to say that this about to open into a negative review, more that I have a lot learn still about this record.

Since my first listen through to the album, I have been unable to get Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise by Emperor out of my head. The cleaner vocals remind me so much of that record that I had to play it again to make sure I was not making it up. Stylistically, two different sub-genres, yet (having listened through the Emperor album in piecing this review together), some definite comparators beyond even the vocals. Revelator is an explosive album. One of those that is seemingly written with eruptions of power that blast through more tempered sections. Add this sense of density in terms of the layers to each record and my early comparison holds some firm standings.

Given I have an odd affiliation with that Emperor album, I have found that my enjoyment of Revelator has grown very easily. The progressive elements to the Australians 2021 release help the record play as almost a macabre celebration of metal music when you get the occasional bit of death metal thrown in for good measure and even some ambient work to boot. I do need more time with the more post-metal moments and do find the flow of the album interrupted by this.

However, The Amenta are clearly talented guys and the musicianship here is top notch. This is not very industrial sounding to me (saying that as an already declared irregular listener to this sub-genre) and has a lot more depth to it than I first expected, clearly therefore having been written by some mature artists. I find it theatrical and challenging at the same time as being a record that can appeal to my more primitive metal needs very easily. It is a solid discovery that has helped me rediscover an old favourite also.