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Anaal Nathrakh: Passion

24/08/11 || The Duff

I’m sure that Anaal Nathrakh are victims of a tonne of hyperbolic reviewing when it comes to their albums, and I’m not going to change this. I love this fucking band, but I’ve always steered clear from writing about them purely because I don’t know how to describe the end of the fucking World, am I right? We’re all high-fiving each other here at GD headquarters, bare with us a second. So this, their sixth full-length, and oddly titled “Passion” (buy it for your missus for Christmas).

trollface1

Am I doing this right?

Well, one thing the Anaal’s have always been burdened with is first-album syndrome, never topped despite plaudits from every which way. The last two Anaal records sure were a feat, though; both very visual, extreme, catchy, the tits. Where “Hell is Empty and All the Devils are Here” was like the war waging (yes, I’m stealing this one from Metal Review, it’s payback for the Drudkh plagiarism – just scroll down to the second review there), and “In the Constellation…” the post-apocalyptic struggle for survival (the complete and exact quote being here), both were a bleak and sterile barrage of noise used to symbolize the disgrace of our species (as with all this album’s predecessors, saying that).

“Passion” is a statement in the band’s devotion to its craft, not much different in delivery but the music is far more in-depth, a lot more colorful. Color and Anaal Nathrakh goes well and I’m pleased to say it’s while sticking close to their core sound, it’s like we’re at a more mature outfit, more complicated where the battering remains much the same – it was probably about time, despite thinking more of what came before would’ve suited me just fine. “Passion” is a well-crafted, well-paced tapestry of musical layers, a mixture of blindingly-fast grind, evil black and atmospheres so dark and hopeless, all with that industrial tinge and tighter than blue balls (I think the term is “compressed”) production.

The build-ups to the first two tracks are a good indication of where the Anaal’s are right now, with winding, eerie passages leading up to the onslaught revealing a band wanting to cause a less direct sense of unease. It’s more of a build-up to the chaos this time around, not so a thunderstrike to the nuts. That said, there are still the regular Anaal cuts such as “Who Thinks of the Executioner?” and “Paragon Pariah”, even those more to the point as is the case with “Post Traumatic Stress Euphoria” and “Locus of Damnation”, although the former appears to complement the following cut “Le Diabolique Est L’Ami Du Simple” very nicely to form yet one more epic-length mixture of bile and sorrow. Then of course there are the chug-riffs so expertly used on past cuts like “The Final Absolution” and “The Lucifer Effect”, on “Ashes Screaming Silence” a touch less impactful but still the recipe for success. No gripes at all, to say the least.

As always the chief ingredient involves the vocals of V.I.T.R.I.O.L., a man with such devotion to his art; although few techniques have been worked upon over the course of the band’s career, his ability to merge several styles into one fluid delivery of bile and hatred whilst making it catchier than STDs and sin, to range from guttural bellows to raging screeches to soaring, Ihsahn-highs all in the blink of an eye reveals with no doubt the man’s remarkable talents. Teamed up with the Annal’s on the vocal front this time around include guest-appearances from Rainer Landfermann and Alan Dubin; I can only imagine the gruesome twosome of AN’s ranks were whetting themselves whilst listening to takes of the former’s performance – although not to my tastes, the style fits the music seamlessly and appears to even test the mighty V.I.T.R.I.O.L. on the ‘disgust of humanity’ level.

In the end, this is still a mixture of catchy and extreme, the band has broadened the depth of the music but not much else – there is absolutely nothing to be disappointed about on “Passion”, despite it being a step down from the almost complementary efforts “Hell is Empty…” and “In the Constellation…”; the baby steps forward are all that I could ask for as a major fan. If you don’t want more of the same, then don’t bother with this, but for a band that has no contemporaries, I’m as always delighted they’re following the same path as set in the past.

8,5

Information
Released: 2011
Label: Candlelight Records
Website: Anaal Nathrakh MySpace
Band
V.I.T.R.I.O.L.: vocals
Irrumator: all instruments

Tracklist
01. Volenti Non Fit Iniuria
02. Drug-Fucking Abomination
03. Post Traumatic Stress Euphoria
04. Le Diabolique Est L’ami Du Simplement Mal
05. Locus of Damnation
06. Tod Huetet Uebel
07. Paragon Pariah
08. Who Thinks of the Executioner?
09. Ashes Screaming Silence
10. Portrait of the Artist

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