Decrowning

Decrowning is Amoral's second album, released in 2005, layering keen guitars, complex rhythms and low roars. Thrash-derived momentum crosses Nordic melody, giving the songs a cold, sharp drive. Arriving only a year after the debut, its guitar work in particular is audibly more accomplished. Niko Kalliojärvi sings and Erkki Silvennoinen plays bass. It came out in Finland and several other countries in October 2005, and in Japan and the United States in March 2006. The opening “Showdown” lifts off on a melodic, thrashy riff and is already shifting restlessly within its first minutes. The second track, “Lacrimal Gland,” got a video. It presses on through “Tiebreaker” and “Drug of Choice,” past “Denial 101” and “Control Cancer,” and closes with “Warp” and “Bleeder” — ten songs, roughly 41 minutes. However technical the phrasing, the playing never loses its raw edge or the heat of the underground. In spring 2006 they joined a 37-date European tour headlined by Dark Funeral and Naglfar, alongside Endstille. The cover is by Aki Siltala. A record that captures early Amoral's hard-edged appeal.