Amenra at Fabrica, Bucharest 06.10.12

I waited almost an year to see this band and experience their ritual. I wrote a review for the lovely Rawk'n'Roll. It's in Bulgarian though, so I translated the paragraphs describing my time in the Church of Ra. Read it below in English, and if you know Bulgarian click HERE for the full story. It was a total life-changer.

...the time in Fabrica suddenly starts to function in a different way. Darkness is getting thicker and is only interrupted by black and white visuals. In front of the stage bodies are gathering, and on it a blurry image appears. It is showing the insides of a church. The five men from Amenra are there. Mathiue is staring through our bodies and his guitar lets us all in the Church of Ra. I've seen tens of photos of their concerts, I've heard the stories of few dear friends. But this here is different. Amenra's music is thick and massive like a wall. It's dragging you to itself and wants to show you what is beyond. It swallows you in a space created by slow and heavy sounds, anxious and sick melodies and ritual rhythms. In front of you there are four people, staring in the very same space you are inhabiting. They are not playing but are pulsating in one with your senses. And among them you see Colin. Never looking at the audience during the whole show. With the mic cable around his hands, he's like trapped in his own pulsations in his own space. The Amenra poetry tears his throat and turns into the last missing texture of their sound environment. You oftenly feel your eyes are irrelevant. You share the blank stares of the other dark silhouettes and you are just listening. You hold her hand and think you are at least controlling this. Then you feel your bodies moving in an unison, engaged in the common pulse. During the whole show I see Colin's face twice. I see his lips moving even when he's not singing. And this helps you understand what are those people and what music means to them. It is their ritual, we are their ears and all together we are in the domains of Ra.

At a point the screen goes black. The worn out images are gone. Only the Amenra logo is still there. The five men are gone. The grip around your neck is loosened. Her hand is still here but the oxygen insufficiency remains for few more hours. Actually it is a pleasant reminder of where you were - the place where air was replaced by the black and thick substance which is actually Amenra's music.