Amulet, an esemble born from the bustling history-paved metropolis of Washington, DC, rises again with their gothic-laced hearts, inviting listeners into a realm where raw emotion collides with electric fervor. Fronted by the commanding Stephanie Stryker, the band unearths themes of love, loss, and the supernatural, stitching together lyrics that bleed with poetry alongside baroque and brooding arrangements. MJ Phoenix, wielding multiple instruments—bass, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, keys, and vocals—anchors the sound with an intensity that lingers like a dirgeful chord that haunts the memory like a recurring dream. Their music pulses with powerful feminine vocals that rise strong and sure, grounded by basslines that cut to the core.
Drawing from the jagged edges of darkwave, the force of industrial metal, and the pulse of post-punk, Amulet crafts something unplaceable. Their songs are steeped in both the harshness of hard rock and the haunting delicacy of neofolk. The brutality of Stabbing Westward intertwines with the eerie elegance of Diva Destruction. In Amulet’s universe, light and darkness dance together, and in this fusion of power and fragility, their music resonates, lingering long in the listener’s bones.
Katharsis, Amulet’s second album, rises like a dark star, pulling listeners into a 74-minute odyssey through the rawest recesses of human emotion. Released through Distortion Productions, this 19-track behemoth—crafted over three years and across multiple countries—dives deep into the soul’s turmoil. Anguish, desire, and fury blend seamlessly, guiding you through a landscape where the brutal and the beautiful collide.
The album begins with a ritual, setting intentions of eternal love, only to be disrupted by the wails of strife looming ahead. Like a Fool stumbling through the tarot, you plunge deeper into the abyss, each step marked by music that echoes ancient sorrows and modern heartaches. The album flows from driving electro-rock to pounding dance beats, shifting to the haunting laments of goth rock.
You sway through ecstasy, raise your fists in fury, and then, at last, find yourself in quiet reflection. Each track is layered with emotion, like dust on the pages of forgotten histories. By the album’s end, you’re exhausted but enriched, having explored the dark corners of the self. Katharsis doesn’t shy away from confronting those truths most would rather leave untouched—its power lies in its unflinching honesty.
Wyrdwork summons the ancient and the arcane, a ritual spun with purpose, invoking love, power, and self-discovery. With a flickering flame, a sprig of rue, a feather from a lover’s bed, the spellcaster calls upon the cosmos itself, daring it to bend to their will. Every whispered word, every sacred token is a testament to personal strength, a reminder to seize the power that lies within. It’s a beckoning for transformation, an embrace of self-worth, sealed with unwavering intent. So Cold spirals into the icy abyss of a love that has withered into stone. The song is a lament that mourns what was lost—once warm, now frozen—tracing the ruins of affection turned to apathy. Loneliness grips tightly, promises lie shattered, and the familiar touch now feels distant and cruel. In this barren landscape, the weight of betrayal chills the heart, and numbness is all that remains.
Tear Me Apart plunges headlong into the jagged, festering pain of betrayal, where each lie feels like a blade, carving ever deeper. In this haunting song, the tortured protagonist grapples with deep feelings of worthlessness. Deceit has hollowed them out, reducing once-promised dreams to mere dust. All that lingers are echoes of self-loathing and bittersweet memories of what could have been.. Each wound remains open, aching, never healing. Total Power Exchange ventures into the raw interplay of dominance and submission, exploring the intricate dance between control and surrender. Pleasure and pain blur, become indistinguishable, as partners exchange power in a way that is both electrifying and unnerving, a fragile balance maintained by trust and desire.
In Dance of Duality, light meets dark in a delicate harmony, a love that saves and transforms. One partner, lost in the shadows, is pulled into the warmth, finding salvation in the embrace of another. This is a dance of opposites, where love resurrects and reshapes, bringing light where there was once only darkness. Dirty Hard Beats sinks into a world of lust and primal power, where a vampiric queen thrives in the night. The pounding beats drive an image of dark seduction, a dangerous allure fueled by desire and control, where the line between hunter and prey is blurred.
Erase Me delves into the inner turmoil of attempting to release someone who is firmly etched deeply in a person’s thoughts, acting as a persistent and painful reminder of inadequacy. Despite efforts to move forward, they find themselves unable to erase both this individual and their own lingering guilt. The work explores themes of regret, self-destruction, and the longing to break free from one’s own constraints, all while yearning for transformation and liberation.
For Your Love explores an unrelenting yearning that a lovelorn soul can never fully attain, leaving them feeling inadequate and trapped in longing. Despite the pain, they remain willing to do anything for this unattainable love, even knowing they will never be enough. The band takes you to the cemetery to exorcise that pain to the spirits.
The Hope That Kills You captures the torment of holding onto hope while drowning in despair. it speaks of a lonely soul’s struggle against the tide of abandonment, their faith unraveling as they sink deeper into emotional turmoil. Hope, once a lifeline, becomes the very source of their suffering. It is this hope, not the despair, that slowly breaks them. “Walk Away” delves into the pain of unrequited love, where the voice of longing feels unnoticed in a relationship filled with dishonesty and indifference. Their partner consistently denies the existence of any genuine connection, leaving this yearning soul longing for more while being abandoned. Despite the suffering, they continue to hold onto their love, unable to break free from the cycle of heartbreak.
Thorn of the Rose explores the painful aftermath of a broken relationship, with the thorn symbolizing the enduring hurt. The lyrics grapple with feelings of betrayal and abandonment, haunted by a love that still lingers despite the scars it has left. The thorn serves as a reminder of broken promises, while this heart’s voice struggles to heal from a wound that seems unable to close.
The album transitions into the instrumental piece Better Times before moving on to Without You (Song of the Childless Mother). This song expresses deep regret and loss as the heart’s lament confronts the consequences of missed opportunities in the relationship. They yearn for the chance to go back and change the past, realizing too late how life feels without their beloved. Overwhelmed by sorrow, this anguished soul mourns the future they will never share together, facing a cold and empty existence.
Only Me explores the pain of unreciprocated love, where the voice of longing, in search of comfort and connection, confronts a chilling sense of distance. Each broken promise cuts deeper, leaving this soul isolated in an expanding void of abandonment. “Meltdown” captures the feeling of suffocation as the heart struggles under the immense pressure of others’ expectations. The weight of blame bears down, making it challenging to breathe as they find themselves trapped in emotional quicksand.
Sad + Beautiful mourns a love that has slipped away, depicting a spirit fractured by time and distance. Haunted by memories, this essence feels both broken and beautiful in their grief. Imagery of ravens, ghosts, and angels weaves through the narrative, highlighting the fragile impermanence of life and love. Even as their world falls apart, this heart holds onto the lasting essence of that love, with their sadness serving as a thread that connects them to what once was and will forever be. It encapsulates the sorrow of separation intertwined with the undeniable beauty of remembrance.
I’ll Never Be Enough resonates with raw devotion and yearning, as the passionate heart, bound to love, is willing to endure great pain for it. Tormented by an insatiable desire for connection, they fear the weight of loneliness, realizing—despite their sacrifices—that they may never truly feel worthy of the love they seek.
Part of Me, Part of You reflects on a love long lost to time, with this soul sifting through memories of a fractured relationship. In this, a bittersweet beauty emerges from sadness, as they contemplate the unbreakable bond that still exists between them and their former partner. The recurring imagery of ravens and ghosts deepens their sense of loss, even as they vow to maintain their love despite the emotional distance.
Finally, Track 99 concludes the album with a spoken word piece—a brief, reflective meditation on the journey through grief, mourning, and love that permeates the entire work, leaving the listener in a tranquil aftermath of sorrow.
Listen to Katharsis below and order here.
Follow Amulet:
Or via: