Amphist - "Eschaton" (DIY Co-production, 2020)

Band: Amphist

Title: Eschaton

Genre: Crust Punk/D-Beat

Time: 35.58 min

Release date: 21st September 2020

Vote: 85/100

Hey crust punk maniacs,

our beloved Francesco Bazzurri, after Culto del Cargo, reviews today another album in the sign of the crust punk/d-beat: "Eschaton" by Amphist.

A quintet coming from Naples, in Southern Italy, Amphist were featured in "Come on, burn my ears! #12" after I was received their album from Calimocho DIY, one of the labels that released it (they are too many to be all mentionable but some of them are Bologna Punx and Pirate Crew Records, already known on these putrid pages).

There is also to say that Amphist are a well-known band in the Italian hardcore punk underground, and it isn't a case if they played also in my Rome 2 years ago, in a night full of interesting acts like Ira, Fuoco (RIP) and Greve. Unfortunately, I didn't attend that gig.

And now, let's start to read this awesome review by Francesco!

Post-apocalyptic movies always fascinate me, in particular some italian works like "Bronx Warriors" or "The New Barbarians", both directed by the great Enzo. G. Castellari. Dark and raw stories speaking about a violent and degraded human race, telling a future without hope and a total destruction of entire civilization. If I must choose the right soundtrack for this film genre, the album “Eschaton” from Amphist band would be the right choice. Directly from southern Italy these guys play a solid crust punk/d-beat with death metal and post-metal influences, telling the ruins of a world where Void triumphs, directly brought by the long wave of chaos and where civilization is only a pale memory while night of reason moves toward a battered earth. Ten well performed tracks making completely the idea of a strange eschatology. 

Dark melodies alternating to a violent rampage, like “Cherish the Flame”, an instrumental song directly from the abyss and the “Negation Delusion”, fast like a bullet or "What the Thunder Said", lethal like a fist of a muay thai boxer. “Hyerogamy” starts with doom echoes and the listener feels all the essence of isolation an depersonalization. “Eschaton”, the title track, begins with a stoner reminiscence, slow, obscure and deep, but then it explodes invading our ears with evil guitars and screamy voices. “Mayday” sounds like a post-metal gloomy ballad, a portrait of a sonic desolated landscape but ends with another brutal cavalcade. “Pulse”, “Crystal Graveyard” and “Hollow Ground” fix the Amphist style while “Our Day Shall Rise” ends this work with a very particular song, a lament of fatality, curse and damnation with the vocals of Karyn Crisis from Crisis.

In conclusion: I have appreciated very much this album , it’s a well beaten path and I hope in future development. Italians do it better, why not?

Tracklist:

1 - Cherish the Flame

2 - Negation Dissolution

3 - What the Thunder Said

4 - Hierogamy

5 - Eschaton

6 - Mayday

7 - Pulse

8 - Crystal Graveyard

9 - Hollow Ground

10 - Our Day Shall Rise

Line-up:

unknown

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/amphist/

BandCamp: https://amphist.bandcamp.com/