AMEN CORNER is a black metal band from Brazil that formed in 1992. Their latest album, “Written By The Devil,” is their seventh full-length album; they have also released a demo, a split, and three EPs. “Written By The Devil,” is an album that is drenched to the rotten bones in old school black metal with a heavy occult atmosphere. It’s an unique album because it isn’t overly aggressive nor does it get too fast. It’s a slow to mid-paced banger that tends to lean into a much heavier version of heavy metal. In some ways, it reminds me of an extreme metal version of a KING DIAMOND album. But don’t let its doom-ish dirge of a personality fool you: the songs are still arcane and mysterious, a slow death instead of a more instant kill. The album folds out like the natural tapestry of a huge storm. There is a Gothic atmosphere to the music, as well. I find it to be a good fit as it adds a morose and horrific vibe to the album.

After the obvious “Intro,” the album truly begins with “The War of the Antichrist.” The guitar leads build up the tension very well, a perfect bedfellow with the super heavy riffs. The bass goes a long way in adding another layer to the song….it offers an unbreakable dark touch to even the methodical moments.  The song, and the album as a whole, is very much riff based--that is something I always appreciate in black metal. The bass controls the beginning of “Fall and Ascension,” driving the song into a dense forest of melancholic riffs. The drums handle themselves well here, constantly landing exactly where they need to. The vocals take a more a storytelling route with lots of effects and an almost spoken word cadence. The song is just theatrical enough to be exciting.

“Inferno,” is an interesting piece–a short but sweet song with a lot going for it. The opening is ambient noises followed by simple but catchy riffs. The aggression slowly ramps up, near the beginning before fully committing around the 1:53 mark with a thrashtastic showdown.  More up tempo parts like this are few and far between but it makes them all the more potent when they do show up. The band carries that spirt on in the beginning of the title track before it settles into a mid-paced romp, the bass adding a lot of power to boost up the riffs.  The halfway point of the song fades off to a slick bass line and demonic spoken word passage.    The album's best solo arrives after, birthed seamlessly from that halfway point while also pushing the song  to its logical conclusion.

“The Splendor of Your Presence,” is a more focused song than some of the others. The vocals are definitely a little scary but switch to a clean near the end as the song slows down to a crawl. The final minute or so is a surprisingly dense texture that fleshes out out well near the end. All in all AMEN CORNER’s “Written By The Devil,” is a horror drenched occult extravaganza takes a different path for it’s brand of black metal than a lot of modern bands do.  But it's old school worship is crafted with a lot of obvious love for the scene without sounding like a repeating of the past.