Review Summary: Anacrusis continues to expand their sound further into more progressive territories.
For this album, Anacrusis would delve even deeper into progressive metal. The band used far more Melodic song structures and even incorporated keyboards and other effects into this album. Though "Manic Impressions" is arguably the bands' magnum opus, and this is regarded as the more accessible release, this record still shows a lot of growth and musical maturity. The band would also be experiencing a lineup change. After touring in support of "Manic Impressions", former drummer Chad Smith left the band, and the band replaced him with a man named Paul Miles.
The music exhibited on this album has a lot more dramatic flair than previous efforts, seen in tracks like the opener "Sound the Alarm". The lyrics are also a lot more personal and introspective with insightful and self aware lyrics presiding over much of the music. The natural progression of the band continues as well with keyboards and other effects added in order spice up the music in tracks like "Too Many Prophets" and "Tools of Separation". Subtle use is made of the keyboards, with keyboards only appearing in a few tracks. The keyboards don't take away from the music, but actually make the music more varied and interesting. The overall mood of the album can be seen as very angry and ominous, with the music being heavy, but strangely relaxing and smart. Not many bands can continue to expand their sound, without making their music stale and boring in the process, but Anacrusis were surely the exception. While the music is a bit more accessible than "Manic Impressions", it's still heavy and technical with a sharpened progressive edge.
The band shows more musical maturity too, with more improved vocals and complex guitar parts and bass lines than before. Vocalist Kenn Nardi continues to improve his vocal ability; he can have low death metal growls, high shrieks, and clean singing all in one song. This makes him extremely well rounded and unique from other metal vocalists. Bass lines also stand out more, with higher frequency and seemingly more musical input than before. The drums on the other hand seem to wilt just an inch. The precise and technical drumming of Chad Smith is gone. Instead, Paul Miles elects to play more loosely and rythmaticaly with the rest of the band. The musical improvements make the music more focused and sophisticated, resulting in a more technical release.
The only true downside to this album is that it is the bands last. The bands' life was cut short due to various label issues and inner-band problems. Anacrusis would have surely gone on to expand their sound and make quality music well into 90's, if they never broke up. But alas, this is not the case. Instead we are left with two gems of metal that should be cherished by all who are fortunate enough to know about them.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS
- Sound the Alarm
- Division
- Driven
- Brotherhood?
Kenn Nardi - vocals, guitar
Kevin Heidbrder - guitar
John Emery - bass
Paul Miles - drums
Produced by Kenn Nardi
Recorded: 1992
Released: 1993
Metal Blade Records, Warner Bros. Records
