This came out in 2000 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
OK, so Swedish trip-hoppers Baxter aren’t exactly The Chemical Brothers. And Carl-Michael Herlofsson isn’t exactly as well known as, say, Trent Reznor.
But anyone who dug the enticing tones of Baxter’s self-titled 1998 debut — like, perhaps, Madonna, who released the disc on her Maverick imprint — may want to dig up these tracks from Herlofsson’s previous outfit. Interestingly enough, Amen (not to be confused with the American rock band fronted by Casey Chaos) sound less like Baxter and more like the two electronica acts named up top. These 11 tracks, taken from the band’s two Swedish-only releases, wed the big, block-rocking pop grooves of the Chems to Reznor’s spooky-synth paranoia and crunch-rock guitars. It wasn’t enough to make them a household word, but Amen are still a name worth knowing.
