Amenti are a fantastic from Stoke-On-Trent, England. They've recently been on tour with bands such as Vader and Rotting Christ and are about to embark upon more gigs. Luckily enough for us, the guys were able to take some time out from their schedule to answer a few questions. Once you're done reading this interview, make sure that you check out the band because they are damn good!

Lou: The first thing I noticed about you guys - well, the first thing after having listened to the tracks on your MySpace page - was that you all appear to be pretty young. How long has the band been together and where did you all meet?

Amenti: The band has been seriously going for a few years now, but we have only had this line up for the last 9 months or so. Ash started the band when he moved to Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands for uni, upon moving here Ash found Jon and Mike. After a few line up changes Amenti eventually found Nick and shortly after Shaun.

Lou: Which bands would you say have been your biggest influences?

Amenti: We have a bunch of influences, ranging from Bay Area Thrash Metal to NBWOHM. Any music that is good (in our opinions) and that doesn't restrict to just Metal. It's impossible to name any specific group as everyone listens to different shit.

Lou: Where does the name Amenti come from?

Amenti: The name AMENTI derives from ancient Egyptian mythology. In short it's the land of the dead, the halls of judgment. The band used to be called Hecatomb, but the name had to be changed a few years back due to copyright issues.

Lou: The two tracks on your page are fantastic - They're heavy, yet melodic and packed full of riffs. Do the other tracks on "Under The Dying Sun" have the same sort of feel to them?

Amenti: We tried to write a varied album consisting of various musical concepts. I guess one thing that keeps Under The Dying Sun is the consistent under lying theme of a world where humanity is brought to the brink of extinction by greedy tyrant dictatorships. It's pretty apocalyptic and epic. Musically it varies between fast, intense, heavy songs, and has a bit of slow humble acoustics a nice balanced album. One thing that bonds all of the songs together is the big riffs, catchy leads and epic scope.

Lou: Which track is your favourite from the album and why?

Amenti: Ah, thats a really difficult question. Our favorite song off the album (based on a democratic vote) is Amongst The Forgotten. It's fast, brutal and has an awesome ending. We love playing that song live. But I think the favorite studio song is easily Mother Terra. An 8 minute long epic which starts off with acoustic guitars and turns into a slow crushing experience followed by a kick ass instrumental.

Lou: Which 3 words would you use to describe the album?

Amenti: Apocalyptic, Nihilistic (Fucking) Metal!

Lou: Where was the album recorded and who produced it?

Amenti: Under The Dying Sun was recorded over a period of 2 months at a studio local to us. It's an awesome brand spanking new studio with a great producer John Dugmore.

Lou: On your MySpace profile it states that yours is 'the music of war'. I was just wondering what is meant by this statement? Is it reflected in the album's lyrics?

Amenti: It's the kind of music you go to war listening to!

Lou: Who writes the lyrics and music?

Amenti: Mike writes the lyrics, the rest of us write the music.

Lou: How did the deal with Plastic Head come about?

Amenti: Well, we had a record label (Hangmans Joke Records) which had some cool bands like RSJ, Malefice, Cinders Fall and Exit By Name. But unfortunately the label folded due to the director tragically passing away. That fucked us up a bit, as the whole promotional campaign has been knocked right back and the albums release date had to be pushed back also. So we carried on shopping around and we decided to self finance the pressing and promotion of our own record via a distribution deal with Plastic Head. So we are still technically unsigned, although we are currently in discussion with a few labels about possibly working together in the future.

Lou: Have you had any reviews of "Under The Dying Sun" yet? What has the general response been like?

Amenti: Due to the promotional campaign being pushed back the album reviews are still being written up, but the CD will be reviewed and featured in your general mainstream metal media (Metal Hammer, Terrorizer, Kerrang! etc).

Lou: I've noticed that you've got some tour dates coming up. What is your favourite thing about playing live?

Amenti:Yeah we have some tours coming up. Actually we just came back from touring Russia with Vader and are on tour at the moment, we just played Hard Rock Hell Festival the other day with Cradle of Filth, Finntroll, Saxon, Twisted Sister, Turisas plus 30 odd other bands! We are just starting the Destruction/Onslaught UK tour dates now. We are also booking a 40 date UK tour for January / February. We love playing live, all the stress of making sure everything is smooth, the feeling of when the show is pulled off perfectly. Meeting all the new people and seeing all the new places. Everything about it is awesome we love it all!

Lou: Now, I love to headbang at gigs - and after listening to the tracks on your MySpace and watching the video, it's clear to me that I'd have lots of opportunities to engage in my favourite past time at one of your shows, but, the real question is: What is the best form of head banging? Which technique do you use? I find that 'wind milling' is my favourite, but sometimes just bashing your head up and down gets the job done just as well. Which is your favourite?

Amenti: Well, we love head banging (despite all having short hair now), Mike cut his dredlocks off recently into a mohawk and Nick cut his hair off a while ago. But that doesn't stop us from head banging! I think with long hair windmill is easily the best looking head banging technique, especially in fast as fuck bits! But due to lack of hair we stick with up and down.

Lou: Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to get to your show at The Peel on the 9th November, so I was wondering if you could fill me in on what I will be missing out on? What can we expect from a Amenti show?

Amenti: Well we like to go fucking crazy! You can expect lots of heavy music and head banging! We like pits too, the more violence the better!

Lou: Where else will your tour be taking you? It looks like you're covering most of England.

Amenti: We are covering all of the UK (save Ireland) which we are working on getting dates for at the moment. We want to play everywhere! Big cities and small towns, as long as there is a metal scene.

Lou: Which band member is most likely to demand blue M&Ms before a show?

Amenti: I'm assuming you mean which band member is most rock star up there own arse cocky mother fucker? None of us, because that aint us. (Lou: Nah, not really... I just have a bizarre interest in M&Ms... especially the ones with the peanut in the middle...)

Lou: Are there any venues (or countries for that matter!) that you'd really like to play in, but haven't had the chance to yet?

Amenti: Well we have played Russia, Belarus, we have been to Poland, we touched into Asia briefly on the Russian tour. We still have lots of places to cover, but we'd love to go far East, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan etc in fact we have a festival that way next year. We are hoping to extend that into a tour of some sort.

Lou: Which venues do you particularly like playing in? Which venue was the first Amenti gig held in?

Amenti: The first Amenti gig was at The Sugarmill in Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands, we had our album launch party there and we love playing at that venue. It's always a blast!

Lou: Do you get nervous before a gig? If so, how to you calm your nerves?

Amenti: I wouldn't say we get nervous. I mean sometimes you take a (what we call) a 'Nervous Shit'. You spend all afternoon setting a show up, things always go wrong, your prepared to solve any possible problems that may occur, your more nervous about something technical going wrong then anything else. If your nervous about getting up in front of people then all you can really do is grudge it, see it through. It's the best feeling when it's all over and done with.

Lou: It's getting close to Xmas now... I've gotta start sorting out my Xmas list and start buying presents... So, what Amenti merchandise should I treat my friends and loved ones to?

Amenti: Well what can we say, if you buy the album your giving us food money haha!

Lou: One question that has shown up on the Loucifer Speaks forum is the old 'Metallica vs. Megadeth' debate and I'm hoping that you guys can settle this for us... Who would you rather play a gig with: Metallica or Megadeth?

Amenti: We'd rather play a gig with Exodus!

Lou: Which have been your favourite moments of 2007?

Amenti: Writing and recording the album and touring with Vader, Krisiun, Rotting Christ and Incantation.

Lou: What will 2008 bring for Amenti?

Amenti: 2008 for us will be the year in which we will be touring like fuck in promotion of our new album and build up for the following one! We hope to see everyone out at some shows! Do not be afraid to say hi to us, we like to talk to fans!

- AMENTI - Mike, Ash, Nick, Jon, Shaun.


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