It’s finally time.
Four years on from their previous album, 2021’s crushing De Doorn, Belgian post-metal greats Amenra have unveiled plans to deliver a pair of EP releases in 2025. Said to represent different sonic aspects of the long-running group, both De Toorn and Fang and Claw will be released March 28th via Relapse Records.
A press release describes the band’s upcoming aural diptych as a journey through Amenra’s “raw, visceral beginnings,” as well as “a look into the band’s future as one of the most enthralling and cinematic experiences in the genre.”
Guitarist Mathieu Vandekerckhove likewise noted that the sound of De Toorn delves “deeper into the raw emotions of grief, wrath, and transformation,” and adds that it brings the band’s rituals “a step further into the fire.” With regards to Fang and Claw, he said that record recalls the “unfiltered intensity” of the band’s Mass I to Mass III period of the early Aughts.
Notably, he also explained that the mini-offerings are being released as the band prepare their next full-length release.
“Together, [the new EPs] form a crucial passage in our 30-year journey — a reflection of where we began and where we are going. This transition is not just a bridge; it is a reckoning, a moment that prepares us for the resolution to come with Mass VII. Through rage and sorrow, we rise, bearing both the scars of the past and the fangs of resilience.”
Ahead of their official releases, Amenra are teasing the EPs with De Toorn’s opening “Heden,” a track guitarist Lennart Bossu explained got the ball rolling for their most recent songwriting sessions.
A fittingly ritualistic, slow-roiling, nearly 15-minute video for the epic cut is streaming up above.
De Toorn tracklisting:
Heden
De Toorn (Talisman)
Fang and Claw tracklisting:
Forlorn
Salve Mater