Death Comes From Birmingham
Hello my friends, lets just keep shuffling forward please as 2020 just doles out more misery, ah but wait, lookey folks, I have the new album from our noise legends Anaal Nathrakh for company. Now, Birmingham is not known as the Home of Metal for no reason, we do not take this accolade lightly, we cherish it with a fervent pride and a knowledge that these bands are ours. Messrs Dave Hunt and Mick Kenney don the ubiquitous black attire and march boldly into the skipfire that this year has become.
Their name is Irish for ‘snakes’ breath’ and I’m not sure about you but I don’t like the idea of a reticulated python gently caressing my nape. For your displeasure it comes complete with grotesque as fuck cover art, so let’s take a peek through the pig’s eyes.
We find ourselves on ‘a Gadarene charge into endarkenment’ as the situation is now out of control and spinning viciously and we pummel furiously to the sound of this beautifully brutal undertaking. From the outset it is incredibly dark and destructive, with a reference to The Hunger Games in the words ‘Panem Circenses’ the idea that the rich will exploit the poor by giving them bread and circuses( entertainment) to keep the plebeians subdued. ‘Libidinous’ comes complete with eldritch screeching a la King Diamond, this is the overture for the tortures of the damned. What I particularly love on this record are the keyboards, so amazingly on point, harnessing the meaning of the songs and applying their intricacy with such vehemence and grace. The timing and precision of each aspect is the work of a pioneer, a quality artist.
‘Beyond Words’ provides some next level distortion and is a vehicle to illustrate extreme anger and volatility.
There are significant harsh realities portrayed here, however the complex and detailed arrangements, with supersonic choruses as in ‘Feeding The Death Machine’ are abundant and captivating in their execution. Our world has been ripped of its arts scene, we are mourning it’s loss and here we find ‘Create Art, Though The World May Perish’ a timely and bang on the money outing that sums up the lives of those in the creative industry. It has been said before, but the message is one that needs repeating. The observant line from ‘Singularity’ ‘at the whim of a lord what we are is destroyed’ for me it triggered parallels to ‘120 Days Of Sodom’ by the most revered and despised writer the Marquis De Sade, an unhealthy tale of virulent exploitation of the poor by the privileged. A tale so obscene, we can’t even imagine it being true. Sadly, we are still living with such atrocities being committed and the victims being silenced.
To finish us off entirely, please bow your head for a ‘Requiem’ courtesy of the medium of Death metal, an awe-inspiring composition that underpins an entire genre my friends, it is craftmanship that is not to be sniffed at.
This album has taught me not to get too excited about ‘album of the year’ too early in the day. Excuse me while I give myself a good hiding.
Anaal Nathrakh – Endarkenment out now via Metal Blade.