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After gaining plaudits in the UK club circuit, this Mancunian quartet’s debut employs that live feel, with the drums and bass sitting high in the mix ensuring tracks gallop and bulldoze as required. Yet the guitars take their moments in the spotlight with aplomb on the classic flurries of One More Day and the twin leads of Retribution, which descend into elegant acoustic plucking. Though it bears all the hallmarks of clinical thrash mixed with the muscle of Machine Head and Devildriver, there are enough slabs of pummelling groove on the likes of Nevermore and the title track to ensnare those who need a beatdown fix. But while each track blasts through in a blizzard of notes and kick drums, the twists and turns of the seven-minute Vile And Corrupted shows Amethyst have enough captivating nous to really push the boundaries next time.

Rugby, Sean Bean and power ballad superfan Adam has been writing for Hammer since 2007, and has a bad habit of constructing sentences longer than most Dream Theater songs. Can usually be found cowering at the back of gigs in Bristol and Cardiff. Bruce Dickinson once called him a 'sad bastard'.