On the night where all sinister cosmic energies merge to unleash horror, Australian extremists THE AMENTA fittingly revealed a video for their hymn to Satan – ‘Sono L’Antichristo‘. Watch here:
‘Sono L’Antichristo‘ is a reworking of the DIAMANDA GALÁS composition. While the original version bewitches with brooding ambient and shocking noise, THE AMENTA build a cold, devastating Extreme Metal armor around obscure and hysterical chants – including blasting drums courtesy of David Haley (PSYCROPTIC).
THE AMENTA‘s keyboard player Timothy Pope narrates:
“DIAMANDA GALÁS is an artist who should need no introduction. Her voice is incomparable to any other and her work is sui generis. ‘Sono L’Antichristo‘ was originally on her incredible “Plague Mass” album which was the first album of hers I had heard. Not long after hearing this album, Erik and I found out that DIAMANDA GALÁS was playing in Sydney at the Opera House. We jumped in the car, desperate to see a live performance of this wild and soul-scouring work, but by the time we got there the show had started and the doors were locked. On the way to the bar to drown our sorrows, we passed the merch store which proudly displayed GALÁS‘ book “The Shit Of God” (later I found this to be a line from ‘Sono L’Antichristo‘) and we knew we had missed a life-changing performance. Later, at the bar, we would watch scores of well-dressed, well-to-do people, streaming from the exits at intermission, never to return. She had driven them out. On top of her more “avant-garde” work, DIAMANDA GALÁS is one of the greatest interpreters of classic song and it is in this spirit that she is, in some ways, the patron saint of the whole “Plague Of Locus” release. Our version of the song, and the film clip we now release, can be seen as not only a tribute to an artist who has greatly inspired us over the years, but also a glimpse into what we imagined was happening behind those closed Opera House doors. The fever dreams of two disappointed metalheads.“
“Plague Of Locus” is released on vinyl via the band and digitally via Debemur Morti Productions. Orders are possible via Direct Merch (vinyl) and via Bandcamp (digital).
THE AMENTA is ugly, dissonant, electronically-lacerated Extreme Metal from Australia, featuring the core creative line-up of Cain Cressall (Vocals), Erik Miehs (Guitars) and Timothy Pope (Keyboards, Samples & Effects) with Dan Quinlan (Bass) and drummer David Haley (PSYCROPTIC, ex-ABORTED) rounding out the lineup.
Early experiments with dissonance resulted in 2002’s “Mictlan” MCD. Two years later, the band had signed to Listenable Records who released the debut full length, “Occasus”. Next came 2008’s divisive “n0n” album. “n0n” was a dense, ugly, sprawling hymn to urban decay. A filthy paean to political manipulation. It was anti-everything.
Upon returning to Australia after extensive European and American touring THE AMENTA, recorded a free download of a huge multimedia release in 2011 entitled “V01D”. The release featured the new title track, re-recordings of tracks from the two previous albums, as well as professionally filmed and recorded live performances and film clips. The new song showcased one of many new directions THE AMENTA could take. Epic chords held in stasis by drones. Melody where before there had only been dissonance.
In 2013, THE AMENTA released “Flesh Is Heir”. The most organic and open of THE AMENTA’s releases to date, “Flesh Is Heir” built huge sculptures of sound from decayed choir loops and found percussion, the strongest riffs and guitar hooks in THE AMENTA back catalogue and an immaculate vocal performance.
After taking a hiatus from live performance in 2014, the band resumed activity in 2019. Inchoate rumblings slowly took shape. In 2020, THE AMENTA is excited to announce a partnership with Debemur Morti Productions, a label whose name is synonymous with art and with the most forward thinking bands in extreme music.