For more than two decades, Belgian hexad Amenra have been reinventing the genre of hardcore. Their newest and seventh album De Doorn (the thorn) sees them turn that reinvention inwards with a view to expand the musical journey they embarked upon 21 years ago. While their influences stem from the obvious likes of Neurosis, Tool and Crowbar, their aim as a band is slightly more complex – evolving from humble beginnings to incorporate mixed media, invoking as intense an emotional response as possible. “We played in hardcore bands before this, we were skaters, and then we got into the straight-edge hardcore scene here in Belgium that was rather big in the early ’90s,” explains vocalist Colin H. Van Eeckhout. “But we evolved, we were inspired by ’90s screamo. We want...