AMEN CORNER – Written By The Devil / VINYL LP

The unquestionable destiny written by the hand of Death reasserts itself on this seventh full-length album by way of Curitiba, Brazil-borne black metal quartet AMEN CORNER who remind us who it is that brought men down to the realm of the dead, freed us in their fall away from him. Having already nailed a potential classics attuned (yet quality of life improved) vision of a future-self roughly eight years ago these ‘old school’ black metal fellowes return to restate and refine said approach, commanding a first wave inspired early second wave borne voice on ‘Written by the Devil‘. Fans of the ancient mid-paced forms of black metal who’ve no qualms with clean but characteristic vision should appreciate the simple efficacy of the old ways in their hands.
Amen Corner formed circa 1992 as one of the first black metal bands (alongside Murder Rape) from their region of southern Brazil (Paraná) wherein their early sound took inspiration from the first wave (Venom, mostly) and non-Scandinavian traditions of the early second wave (Samael, Mortuary Drape) not unlike the early efforts of Mystifier up far north and Impurity towards the center of the continent. Today these bands are all generally well accounted for, most all’ve reissued/remastered and reformed their classics, but only their early-to-mid 90’s Cogumelo released entries breached the perceptions of more than die-hard collectors prior to the mid-2000’s, at least per my own experience. Amen Corner were neither the best known group nor the most original among that loosely gathered list but their first demo tape (‘Eternal Prophecies‘, 1992) and debut LP (‘Fall, Ascension, Domination‘, 1993) were a bit less sloppy and less prone to copping riffs as many of their perceived peers at the time. I particularly appreciate their work with original drummer Paulo Costa as his style and approach to double-bass drumming was a big part of their signature for the span of four releases throughout the 90’s. Costa and second guitarist Mané had left by 1996 and in their wake the peak of the band’s classic era remains the hugely underrated ‘Iachol Ve Tehilá‘ (1995), the point where some faster-paced pieces and their use of keyboards lead to a more thrashing and menacing version of their original sound. Most folks interested in the band today are primarily interested in that original 90’s era style and sound.