Review Summary: The devils are here, but they renamed themselves Anaal Nathrakh.
At first it can be intimidating. I found it very hard to handle. If you just sit down, take 35 minutes out of your day, then there is a lot more to discover than first thought.
That was my first impression upon listing to this album. I thought, “Oh God, not another one of these sporadic yelling weirdo-grind albums.” It was more than that. The first listen was on you tube. Virus Bomb was the song. It was the first time I had ever heard the band. The only reason I listened was because of all the hype, and although the sound was very harsh and strange to me, I had to download just to get in on what everybody else was. I went to my download site, and unknowingly downloaded their second newest album, believing that it was their most recent work. I gave it a first listen through, and I was impressed. Hearing the songs again gave me a felling of power, not to mention the fact that they were extremely catchy. After listening a second time I realized that this album was like an onion. On the outside, its just brown, crusty dry looking lump, but when you cut it open you see all the layers. Well I guess it could also make you cry. It is recognizing all these layers that got me enveloped in this bands style.
A wall of sound is the best way to put it. When something goes quiet, something else rushes in to fill its place. The diversity of the vocals is amazing. They popped in at just the right times in order to create balance, as well as chaos. From growls, screams, yells and shrieks, Anaal Nathrakh covers it all. The songs seem like they are planned with delicate precision, as if everything is strategically placed in order to give it a certain mood. One of the things I noticed on my first listen was that none of the songs sounded the same. This is a factor I used to face often when listening to a band I’ve never heard before. It just doesn’t cease to surprise me that a band that appears so unorganised and random can create such amazing songs.
Every song is so powerful; they have different styles and themes throughout. Most of the songs are good, but the album has its weaknesses. First, the intro is unnecessary. I often skip it and it strikes me as waste of a track. The biggest problem with this album was the awkwardness of some of the tracks. Screaming of the Unborn and Lama Sabachthani just had choruses that irked me. In a bad way. This is a problem that pops up in there newest album, but they seem to have less. Lastly, Castagion and Betrayal seemed like an afterthought. Maybe the band ran out of ideas and thought that they should quickly write up a final song to put on it. I feel that the album might have scored high than a 4/5 if they had of cleaned it up a bit. Nevertheless, this album got me hooked to a band with much to offer, as well as many other albums to explore.
The composition is exquisite and the vocals are possibly the best I’ve ever heard. I wouldn’t recommend this album as a starter album because their recent one is much catchy and easier to latch on to. I still do recommend this album though.
My favourite songs were Der Hȫlle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen, Virus Bomb and The Final Absolution.
