Anaal Nathrakh ‘Endarkenment’ Review: Band's follow-up to ‘A New Kind of Horror’ is treat for death metal fans
The British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh is all set to drop their 11th studio album titled ‘Endarkenment.’ The band's name is Irish for snake's breath (anal nathrach) which was taken from the 1981 film ‘Excalibur.’
Formed in 1999, the band comprises of Dave Hunt (Irrumator) on the vocals and multi-instrumentalist Mick Kenney (V.I.T.R.I.O.L.) on the guitar, bass and drums and programming. Additional live members include Anil Carrier on the drums, Duncan Wilkins on the bass and backing vocals along with Dan Rose on the guitar. The rock band is known for fusing elements of symphonic black metal, death metal, grindcore, and industrial.
Anaal Nathrakh’s 11th studio album is a follow-up to their 2018 ‘A New Kind of Horror’ which proved to be an adrenaline rush for straight 33 minutes and therefore, we do have high expectations from their latest album.
Speaking in an official statement of the album, vocalist Dave Hunt asserted, “I think in terms of feel, it's brighter, more open and direct than maybe we've been in the past. Obviously, I don't mean it is happy-go-lucky sounding or suggestive of a sunny disposition. I mean something more like it burns with light rather than glowers with darkness. It's coruscating.”
He continued, “Personally, I feel more cynical, more bitter, with a greater sense that the world is f****d, and is continually re-f****d by people who have no idea what they are doing. Musically, I think we're more mature - not less frenetic, but better able to channel our energies where they'll be most effective. That's an on-going process, you never finish growing into what you're doing and being better able to push at the edges of what you can do. But we aren't interested in evolving what we do, only how we do it. We remain unlike the vast majority of other bands in our sound, and we're proud of what we do.”
‘Endarkenment’ opens with the title track of the same name which runs up to 3minutes 56seconds and for extreme death metal, it is a pure treat. The moment you hit the play button, the rough guitar work quickly jams with the aggressive drums and before you know anything you are slapped with disheveled screeching. The lyrics of the title track go like, “As one we march along, Into nauseating neglect/ Like all good swine we deserve our feed, Are we not yet oblivious to your words?, By the end, we’ll beg/ Take what small comfort there may be left, Seize what you love and damn all the rest/ Panem, circenses, credulous descent/ A Gadarene charge into endarkenment”
Listen to the title track ‘Endarkenment’ here:
The song doesn’t even let you breathe with so many elements infused together throughout the song. For the extreme death metal lovers, this is no less than a blessing.
‘Thus, Always, to Tyrants’ will make you impatient with so much happening on the tracks within a few seconds. The drums come-in, the vocals erupt like a volcano, the guitar shrieks for a while. Also, it is the shortest song in the album running for only 2minutes33seconds. ‘The Age of Starlight Ends’ then completely changes the tone and plays with a lot of undertone melodies giving unseen layers to the track. The high-pitched vocals create a different atmosphere without breaking away from the feel and the sound the album has.
You can check out the lyrical video of Anaal Nathrakh’s ‘The Age of Starlight Ends’ here:
‘Libidinous (A Pig with C**ks in Its Eyes)’ as the name suggests is a pretty dark song to handle. A Pig with C**ks in Its Eyes is also the official cover of the album. The song surprises with a melody in the very beginning but as soon as you get comfortable with it, it abruptly changes the lane into merciless vocals.
‘Beyond Words’ is a song which is placed in the middle of the tracklist’ and to be really honest, it can be given a miss. ‘Feeding The Death Machine’ was penned on the day of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz after Hunt heard an interview with a prisoner who survived simply because she could play the cello. The melodic portions of the song move like fluid and you kind of flow with it. The track mentions incomprehensibly horrific events in an apparent matter of fact style and without touching upon the actual horror.
Moving on to the next song, ‘Create Art, Though the World May Perish’ will treat you with clear vocals which are rare in the death metal songs. ‘Singularity’ sheds light on the anticipated point at which artificial intelligence will overtake human intelligence. The song has several layers which leave a haunting impact on the listener.
30 seconds into the song ‘Punish Them’ and you will feel as if tiny and dangerous insects are feeding on your skin. The song is dreadfully painful and leaves no place for sympathy.
The closing single ‘Requiem’ will take you to glorious new territories. The 5minutes32second track is the longest song in the album and serves a perfect end to the extreme death metal album. The drums will drive you mad as sonic-topped vocals will not allow you to think about something else for hours.
A totally genuine and dedicated approach towards the album is clearly visible in the production. The monolithic abyss of riffs, growling vocals, and diverse under-layered melodies may make this one of the best work from the duo.
The music was tracked entirely in Kenney's studio in southern California while the vocals were laid down in an industrial estate in Birmingham, UK.
Speaking on the process of recording and production, Dave Hunt said, “It occurred to me not long ago that we haven't recorded together at the same place twice for ten years or more, and I think part of the reason for that is that the place itself doesn't really affect us. It changes the experience of actually doing it in terms of being there in person, obviously, but it doesn't really make any difference to the way we work together.”
He further stated, “Dedicated studios, expensive gear, acoustically isolated live rooms and so on - they're all great, I'm sure, but give us a quiet room with a lightbulb, a laptop, and a shitty mic and we'll still do basically the same thing. The music and the atmosphere and the inspiration are in us, not in places or pieces of equipment.”
Anaal Nathrakh’s ‘Endarkenment’ will arrive on October 2, 2020, and will be available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube.