Review by Vladimir on January 2, 2024.

Are you looking for dynamic black metal with some insane but entertaining songwriting? Join me on this journey, as I’ll be taking a look at the international band Amaltheia, with their debut self-titled album released on March 11th, 2022 via Godz Ov War Productions. 

Amaltheia deals with some form of semi-atmospheric yet highly dissonant black metal comprised of dynamic drumming combined with aggressive tremolo riffs and traditional harsh vocals, which at times takes on a more death metal-oriented approach, especially during the second track 'Dominion' with a very wicked slower section that spices up the mood. There are a lot of moments that border a bit with death metal in terms of the execution carried out within a song, however the strongest element here is still very much rooted in dissonant and destructive black metal, where a lot of moments lean towards musical aggression, perhaps even atmosphere or even both like on the third track 'Dawn'. Perhaps one of the most powerful headbanging moments that will surely grasp you with at most attention is the fourth track 'Threnody' for its heaviest and possibly most brutal riffs that cut like hot knife through butter, and the fifth track 'Fall' which is like a beast taking on an even more intimidating form to cause fear and mayhem.

There is no denying that what Amaltheia expressed on this album is highly engaging to immerse yourself into, and very interesting at times, although on some parts it’s a bit hard to grasp what the hell is going on due to the overall song arrangements having a bit of uneasy flow of dynamics. The only bigger problem that I have is how the drums can sound a bit odd at times, a bit too programmed and less-organic sounding than they mostly do, however this only happens during some slower sections where it can be noticed. Luckily, these smaller issues don’t affect the album too much and all can be easily overlooked if you really pay close attention to the overall output. The album has a very strong sound production which did a great job with the heavily distorted guitar tone, wall crushing drum sound and overdriven bass. 

In the end, I’d say that I managed to quite enjoy this album as a whole, without having the need for nitpicking or losing focus on the band’s overall performance. It is a well-thought-out album with a lot of interesting ideas here and there, with plenty of attention-grasping moments which will certainly win you over. If you like dissonant black metal with heavily overdriven guitars that annihilate, I recommend that you give this album a go. 

Rating: 7.8 out of 10