An old shadow is officially back to haunt the scenes, a kind of evil that is obsessed by darkness, being the antagonist various of lies, which are considered the common faiths and beliefs, and an unholy brutal sense for butchering where it sees fit. 80’s Metalheads will perhaps know these guys, especially the first followers of American Death Metal of the late 80’s that were evident to the rising of a rather new genre, so malevolent and satanically induced. Back when there was no DEICIDE, and prior to the foolish persistence of Roadrunner Records for the name change, only a few years before the horned beast emerged from its cave, there was AMON. Glenn Benton and the Hoffman brothers, issued a set of two demons right before altering their moniker to DEICIDE. Only in 2004 something major happened, and it surpassed with the Hoffman brothers finding themselves roughly kicked out of DEICIDE. Three years later, along with drummer Mike Petrak, and vocalist / bass player Jechael, the Hoffman brothers returned with vengeance and raise from the dead the AMON, revamping the old school Floridian Death Metal grotesquery back to power. The debut album “Lair In Wait”, via F.D.A. Rekotz, originally released a little than a year ago independently, received a vinyl version, reinstating the Hoffman brothers on the Death Metal existence once again. Listening to “Lair In Wait” virtually made me wonder through the band’s old demos, with the collection of demos dating back to 1993 called “Feasting The Beast”, and also through the first two DEICIDE albums, “Deicide” and “Legion”. However, that small history lesson I took upon myself made me comprehend that the old AMON changed its ways rather gradually. With the presentation of “Lair In Wait”, which is no less an old school release, AMON became profoundly technical in its song arrangements and instrumental playing, though not always to their advantage. However, the old spirit of the once youthful band, at the launch of a new era for Metal music, is still alive, kicking, scratching and bleeding. Furthermore, being once the main guitarists for DEICIDE for a substantial period of time of their careers, it is evident that the Hoffman brothers are still breathing the old beast’s fumes with their newly created music. “Lair In Wait” is a fierce bastard, an aggressive typhoon storm, maniacal than AMON’s early recordings, relatively multifarious with all the psychosis sullying the songs like rabies, modernly produced to fit the timeline but breathes of old, proving the true form of Floridian Death Metal never ceased being a powerhouse, and it joints the proud new releases of ACHERON and INCANTATION. “Semblance of Man” and “Wraith of Gaia” impressively showcased AMON’s craving for bloodied Death Metal nostalgia with enough modern touch to make it last long. There isn’t a dull moment throughout the songs; the tempo shifts are distraught, occasionally enunciated riffing that produced some sort of a melodic sense but largely an uncompromising brutish fist to the face, letting off total hatred by an intuitive frontman filled with murderous rage while caressing a stellar electrification of slaughtering soloing efforts, shredding their way into the pits of hell. Largely the rest of the list was quite solid, yet at times it is hard to actually connect the dots between the segments within each track, bedlam and illogical measures are always a treat and even somewhat refreshing, but there were also moments of a pure mess, or vaguely repetitive forms gone bad. AMON is back to disturb your piece with definitive Death Metal, “Lair In Wait” bestially enslaving the old ways to their magnetic devastation, I would keep on tracking these guys if I were you. metal-temple.com