From Bandcamp, “AMENRA make their highly anticipated return with two EPs that highlight the band's career as one of the most compelling and unequivocally vital entities in extreme music. Titled “De Toorn” and “With Fang and Claw” respectively, each of these EPs have distinct soundscapes, songwriting approaches, and emotional weight. The result is a two part journey through AMENRA's raw, visceral beginnings, and a look into the band's future as one of the most enthralling and cinematic experiences in the genre. "With “De Toorn,” we finish what we have started with “De Doorn” in 2019," AMENRA vocalist Colin H. Van Eeckhout comments. "We came as close to our cultural heritage as we possibly could and offered the world a glance of where we come from. With the artwork reached back to the early beginnings of the band, MASS I. Aline Gorsen interpretation of the art propelled us in a world forlorn."

The album has two lengthy songs, and “Heden” is first. There is a long lead-in, and what sounds like a heartbeat to me. Some spoken word follows, and a few guitar notes. There is a lot of tension hanging in the air also. Halfway in now, there isn’t much change. It’s obvious that the song relishes on a gloomy atmosphere, and the lightly sung vocals sound like outright laments to me. Out of the blue comes a heavy, trodden riff, and vocal screams, and this sound was a little close to what I expected. “De Toorn (Talisman)” has a little more sonority, but is still pretty quiet for the first half of the song. You can feel a little build happening as the pace quickens a bit. Then, it drops back into the shadows again. The pain finally enters at the ¾ mark, and then it leaves.

It’s hard to gage an entire EP based on two songs, but I can comment on two main themes I hear…the first, is a heavy emotional burden that is woven throughout, and the second is much of that emotion is pain and torture, yet also things that we all face nearly everyday in our life. The album piqued my interest in the band, and I am looking forward to diving into some of their newer material.