Artist - Amongst Us
Album - Demo
Label - Independent Release
Reviewer - Robin Steeley
I was recently able to preview four tracks off this Portland bands upcoming release titled The Final Approach. The first thing you notice is the utterly brutal approach the band takes to both its songwriting and musicianship. Their music is raw, rampaging metal and impressively delivered at that. They have an intense energy that comes through in the recording, which was engineered and produced by vocalist Chris Finster at Geomana Studio.
The vocals command a lot of attention and interestingly enough are shared between all three band members. It’s amazing that they are able to make such a huge and powerful sound with only a three-piece. I also think it’s intriguing that they have numbers for the song titles instead of going the traditional route and actually naming their songs. It’s always good to be different.
Overall, I find the songs hard to label, a combination of death styled blast beats, heavy melodies with metal riffs, and thrashy bass. The songs are dynamic and include some essentially heavy breakdowns that tie all the music together. I will definitely be waiting to hear the rest of the tracks when they are finished. For more information, check them out at www.myspace.com/amongstus
Amongst Us Is:
Chris Finster – Guitars/Lead Vocal
Chad Sellers – Drums/Lead Vocal
Brooks Schaper – Bass/Backing Vocals
