“Amnutseba has risen from the gutters of the Parisian black metal scene to propose a glimpse into the vortex of insanity.” So say the mysterious figures behind this new band, and they have said little else except through the music on their first demo, which will be released today on tape by Caligari Records. But as you’re about to hear, the music speaks with a powerful and mesmerizing voice.

The demo is untitled, as are the four songs it includes (identified only by Roman numerals). The stream we’re providing runs like the tape, as one continuous track rather than divided into four separate streams, though you’ll be able to tell when one song ends and the next begins.

The figures behind Amnutseba may be cloaked in mystery, but there’s little doubt that this isn’t their first recording. All of the performances are highly accomplished, with the demo produced in a way that provides clarity as well as power, enabling an appreciation for the contribution of every instrument (including the terroristic impact of the vocals). And the compositions are strikingly impressive — elaborately patterned and intricate to the point of becoming labyrinthine, and full of dynamic changes, though never losing their coherence and fragmenting into chaos.

On the other hand, an atmosphere of chaotic and orgiastic delirium is one of the key aspects of the music, the lead guitar shrieking in deranged explosions of dissonance, demented chords ringing out like hellish bells, the vocalist crying out in a rapturous but flesh-rending fury.

However, these dissonant, disorienting, cyclonic frenzies are only one aspect of the trip through the demo. Slow, dirge-like passages generate a sense of encroaching horror and dissolution. Eruptions of bombastic explosiveness augmented by choral voices could cause the weak-hearted to cower in fear before the approach of a terrible leviathan. Flickering, fret-jumping guitar insanity and acrobatic drum fills open windows into what may be an asylum run amok, or an esoteric ritual reaching its climax. The music hammers in pulverizing displays of destructiveness as well twisting the listener’s brain into new configurations. And throughout it all, the vocals are wrenching in their wild, caustic intensity.

Fiery and ferocious, marauding and majestic, eerie and ominous, and perpetually shrouded in an air of esoteric mystery, Amnutseba‘s first demo is an enormously impressive display of black/death metal. It proves to be an electrifying and immersive experience, and a spellbinding one despite how consistently strange and unnerving the music is. What an amazing surprise….

The demo is available for order as of today. Go here to do that:

http://caligarirecords.storenvy.com

Caligari Links:

http://www.CaligariRecords.com

http://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CaligariRecords