Nine Circles

You know how this works…team members take turn picking their favorite each month and this month was technically a landslide between the 9C members joining and the others not able to due to life and whatever else got in the way. De Doorn from Amenra is the band’s fifth full length and first for new label Relapse Records who scooped them up on the strength of their discography, and what a strong discography it is! The fact that this is only their fifth full length misses the fact that they’ve put out six volumes of their out-of-body-religious experience Mass series and all the one-offs, splits, and EP’s that are just as powerful. Amenra are all about the experience and each and every effort speaks volumes to how much they put into their music and to see them live is truly an otherworldy experience. The gang covers De Doorn and how this album stacks up to their previous works and how much of an impact the spoken word approach (in their native language) makes, the Church of Ra and its collective, and correct pronunciation of the band name. Following that is a “what else tripped our triggers” in June on the metal landscape which features several albums you’ll want to take note of.