{"id":95064,"date":"2022-08-26T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T23:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=95064"},"modified":"2022-08-26T17:31:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T16:31:02","slug":"album-review-amken-passive-aggression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-amken-passive-aggression\/","title":{"rendered":"AMKEN &#8211; Passive Aggression (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"title2\"><strong>AMKEN<br \/>Passive Aggression<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" height=\"3\" \/><br \/>\n<span class=\"title3\"><span style=\"color: #c80000;\">Massacre (2022)<\/span><br \/><strong>Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/amken_passiveaggression.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>There\u2019s an interesting duel-vocal dynamic displayed with Greek thrashers Amken, a band that is now on its second full-length album. Considering how much derivative thrash metal there is doing the rounds, <em>Passive Aggression<\/em> is a very good, scathing album that really forces itself upon you with its clinical approach. In its more melodic moments one can hear a Kreator influence, but for the most part Amken bring a very fast assault, particularly on a track such as \u2018The Li(f)e We Lead\u2019 where the double vocal layers bring a snappiness in tandem with rougher, throatier menace.<\/p>\n<p>This album really surprises me though, it is technically efficient, energetic, and not prone to merely aping the glory years. So when you hear tracks such as the title cut or the groove-based \u2018I Am The One\u2019 you feel part of the song, and with the latter song there is a real depth with those deeper vocal rasps as they bark <em>\u201cI am the sun, I am the moon\u201d<\/em> to a healthy riff and stabbing drum attack. The sound is crystal yet evokes flurries of classic Sepultura, whereas maturity is expressed on a track such as \u2018Dead Man\u2019s Land\u2019 with its Bay Area menace and hardened core of searing melody.<\/p>\n<p>I really like these guys, because although the influences are clear there\u2019s an identity to Greek thrash metal and the serious nature of it all brings a grey haze over proceedings, suggesting Amken are professional and want to evolve, and they certainly have since 2017\u2019s <em>Theater Of The Absurd<\/em> which had a more of a punkier, crossover edge. Give this one a go, because you won\u2019t be disappointed if you like serious, sniping thrash.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AMKENPassive Aggression Massacre (2022)Rating: 7\/10 There\u2019s an interesting duel-vocal dynamic displayed with Greek thrashers Amken, a band that is now on its second full-length album. Considering how much derivative thrash metal there is doing the rounds, Passive Aggression is a very good, scathing album that really forces itself upon you with its clinical approach. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4951],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-amken"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95064"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95065,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95064\/revisions\/95065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}