“There has always been a solid core of The Amenta even when members come and go. When we began recording n0n it was essentially just two of us and we toyed with the idea of never playing live again and just doing it as the two of us in a studio. However as good musicians came into our orbit during the recording we began to see possibilities of becoming a live band again.”

Had you never seen The Amenta live show, you may not be able to fully comprehend the severity of this statement. The band’s two year exile from our stages was hard enough to deal with, the prospect of never seeing them again is near unbearable. If you were lucky enough to catch the Melbourne five-piece industrial act the last time they were in Brisbane, at 2007s’ Festival Of The Dead show, chances are you could fully recognise how much of a shame it would be for The Amenta ditch touring completely.

The two-year absence from our stages was brought on by the band’s lofty recording ideas for n0n. Few albums can boast recording in seven studios in three different countries, utilising the services of two drummers, six vocalists and two bass players. Timothy confirms all suspicions that recording the album was horrendous. “It’s a huge relief to finally have the album done. Our first album was a fucking nightmare to record but this one was even worse. We recorded so much audio and the songs were so complex that I was sure at many points that we could never finish it. Even when we began mastering the album it still felt like there was so much to do and we spent a long time procrastinating about sounds just because it was so hard to let go after so long. I am glad we spent all the time and effort on the album as I truly believe that it is the best music we have made.”

With a new album under their collective belt The Amenta have refocussed their live show to thematically resemble n0n. This included revising their bleak aesthetic, basing their “militaristic” attire around “media images of terrorism and freedom fighting as seen through the fractured lense of the media”.

Timothy believes that the new stage look adopted by the band is more confrontational than the band’s previous attires. “I think we are much more aggressive now. Our visuals are less oblique and focus more on confrontation than the passive attitude previously adopted. We are more interested in what we can do with the manipulation of peoples’ attitudes through body language and sound. I think we are less theatrical and more solid. Where we once used our music as a metaphor now we use it as a weapon.”

A weapon that, when teamed with the relentless speedcore assault of The Berzerker, is sure to wreak chaos. “It will be a pretty musically intense tour so I hope people are able to handle the relentless heaviness.”

THE AMENTA play Rosie’s Friday Feb 6 and Sands Tavern Saturday Feb 7 with The Berzerker. n0n is out now through Listenable/Stomp. www.myspace.com/theamenta

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