The Inevitable War

"You pathetic bastard! Do you think all this rubbish is going to help you?!" (Sound of raucously swept aside gewgaws...)

Thus begins Amulet's long-awaited sophomore full-length, titled The Inevitable War and released on (Digipak) CD, last May, under the fulminating Dissonance Productions record label. Honestly, I prefer the Londoners' (longer) respective debut, The First, which adhered to a much more jocose, albeit slapdash, disposition. In any case, this here spruced up worthy greatly prevails thanks to its mature thematic development which often features battle-field evocative sounds of artillery, bloodshed and tell-tale hoof clomps over cobble stoned roads of utter mayhem, starting with a signatory opener in "The Satanist", where the jubilantly expectant listener is treated to newly gleaned front "bard" Federico "Mace" Mazza's highly concise and oh-so-British sounding provocations alongside guitarists Marek "Heathen" Steven (rhythm) and 'Nip' Blackford (lead), as well as fellow helping hands Sam Mackertich on bass (ex-Deceptor) and Neil Ganesha on drums (of CuT, in addition to ex-live member of Arrows of Love/Leogun).

There's only a subtle difference between the vocal antics of the former Asgard-ian and prior singer Jaime Elton, who so knavishly took the helm the first times around (i.e. including the cloying Cut The Crap demo from 2011). In fact, on top highlight - as well as potential track-of-the-year for this Amu-lite - "Burning Hammer", Mazza slams all and sundry to the mat with his thoroughly engaging, live wire countenance which sees me gleefully spinning my wheels during preceding, secondary offering "Shockwave", which, might I add, severely adumbrates the ridiculously (special) effected and similarly named 1977 submarine Nazi flick starring Peter Cushing and John Carradine.

Wizened shoehorn aside, this astounding gem of a track starts off with hallucinatory keys and a super slam bashing drum beat prior to the gang's laid-back, if not pleasantly, juvenile debauch of an incrementally seizing, not to mention wickedly anthem-ic, overture which sees 'Nip' lay down a handful of wily fretboard frazzlers, with the first yielding a kick-ass return to synthesized, sardonic form. Along with the killer pentatonic mnemonics to "The Satanist", "Shockwave" (which ends with an auspicious shot gun blast/report) and, notably, late game changer "Gateway to Hell", his second lead foray blows the song straight of the water, or ring, rather.

The shortest track, at 02:58 - besides mid-point token instrumental "La Noche de las Gaviotas" (a largely reminiscent acoustic number as well as arcane riposte to The First's slasher-styled "The Flight" which brings to mind Led Zep's "Tangerine" and "Tales Of Brave Ulysses") - "Burning Hammer" is, bluntly put, an incredibly fun and replay-able ode to Japanese wrestling, if the voodoo tube video depicting a fiery grunt match betwixt circuit pros Kabashi and Mishawa is of any indication.

Iron Maiden resembling dirges "Call of the Siren" and combative smoker "Siege Machine" fail to tickle my fancy in an as-throttling, haymaking fashion, yet are no worse for wear as they adequately go with the flow whilst constituting a logical progression to the proceedings. Worth mentioning, as with The First's radically ZZ-Top-ish "Heathen's Castle" - apparently based on an Ursula K. Le Guin venture, according to a sagacious interview with "Heathen" - literary connections consist of the Dennis Wheatley based "The Satanist" (which, might I add, is a bit of an extensive dead-ringer for 2014's "Glint of the Knife") and "Gateway to Hell", which, although somewhat of a scruffy, slippery brother (in arms) to Maiden's "Back In The Village", doesn't quite allude, as I initially figured, to Tibor Takacs' cheesy-as-fuck horror movie from 1987.

Worth mentioning as well are the stupendously ineluctable synths to not only "Burning Hammer", but midway through "The Satanist" and "Poison Chalice" too, with a swell, fantastical undercurrent at the inception i.e. past the feedback swollen breadth of "Gateway to Hell". Dig Mazza's sly, antiquated and esoteric display of troubadour-like crypticism two minutes into "The Satanist": "The fireplace crackles in the corner of the room/Velvet carpets and incense smoke/Green the absynthe, viper infused/Repellent fascination, I can’t forget why I’m here!" (followed by a tumbling drum roll and atypical 'Nip' barnburner...then, a viperish return to maniacal, rowdy form).

I also can't get enough of "Poison Chalice", with its super snuggling bass intro and Steven's cranky, up-stroked stop n' go equivocations. At precisely 02:43, a slick-as-Hades, Mega Man-ish whirligig fest of colourful keys kicks this baby into overdrive, and such, for the remainder of the song's venomous encroachment, in addition to a jazzy lead atop said plumply cavorting bass line. The one, true outlier, however, lies in doom-ily upbeat, eight minute plus titular closer, Roundhead, divided as it is into three segments: I: Before the Battle / II: The Inevitable War / III: The Protectorate. Although Mazzo's valorous Bruce Dickinson-invoking cries appoint further Maiden-esque flair to the Brits' "second" effort, the over-drawn and sluggishly meandering, post-fight outro is easily skippable, all the same.

Regarding the battery, team Mackertich/Ganesha sounds virtually indistinguishable from the past (Bill) Dozer/(Dave) Sherman incarnation, which, alongside Sir Elton, has duly moved on. Originally, this substantial line-up change had left me slightly dismayed, until several erudite listens of The Inevitable War - sipped over time like a fine Scotch in order to properly wool-gather and render it justice - mooted the point in a most auspicious, yet mildly less riveting, manner. Nevertheless, consider the latest in Amulet's cannon a rational step towards further trad metal obliteration in an eventual third album which, hopefully, shouldn't take as long to bear fruit.

"Howling, directed at the moon
Screaming erupts from the tomb
In the depths of the jungle, witchdoctors dance
Shamanic potion, induce the trance

Gateway, gateway to hell
Resist the pull of the daemon spell
Retell the journey of mystery
Relive a vision from history... of hell!"