Anguish

Sunday, 05 February 2012 01:00

Band: Anguish
Album: Through The Archdemon's Head
Label: Dark Descent Records
Tracks: 8
Release Date: February 14th
Length: 58' 52'' Riff Score: 8.0/10 How are scores attributed? A new band arises in the doom paradigm. Hailing from Sweden, the doomsters Anguish are releasing their debut album through underground label Dark Descent Records, and they intend on paying homage to the forefathers of the genre.


Metal as a music genre is and has always been limited in the amount of different elements that make up for its primal juice. Many bands have sought out inspiration in greener, read less extreme, pastures and mixed many outside influences with the formulaic procedures of old school metal. A few years ago all these new trends where post-rock, shoegaze and electronic music find their place between the more aggressive patterns of black, death and doom would’ve been unthinkable. To counterbalance this new torrent of creativity the metal world has convoluted, twisted and regurgitated an answer, very much like a living organism affected by a newfound illness struggling to produce new antibodies to fight it off and remain unchanged. The answer to this so called “illness” has resulted in a return to the original roots, bands and sound; a return to the origins of the genres we all know for so long, and that we’ve taken for granted as glories from the past. Finally and after a cycle that lasted more or less twenty years the metal fields are again striving with a return to darker pastures, where many times simplicity was the rule of strength and where the power of the riff reigned supreme.

Thus enters the stage Anguish, a Swedish quartet who is bound on offering the world a glimpse of what the word “doom” really meant in its genesis. It’s a funny thing actually, if you take the time to put some though on it. The majority of the new metal fans don’t understand the concept of calling bands like Black Sabbath, Pentagram or Saint Vitus doom metal. They ask you where are the growls and the aggression, where is the death metal influence, and you end up looking at them and wondering to yourself how they could be so naive. The simple fact and explanation is that a vast number of metal fans fail to identify doom metal as a musical current preceding the death/doom explosion of the early nineties; in fact what they do is basically say that that’s what doom metal really is. It’s a strange notion to newcomers to the genre I know, but try to understand this; doom metal started with Black Sabbath and was later developed into a broader and proper genre by bands like Saint Vitus, Pentagram, Pagan Altar, Witchfinder General or Trouble. This is where doom metal birthed, way before the nineties’ bands that fused it with death metal and produced its newer and more potent hybrid.

So now that the history lesson is complete I can focus on the subject at hand, the album Through The Archdemon’s Head. Its very beginning is the denouncement of what’s to come for the remaining hour, with a slow plodding riff being repeated at the sound of mid paced drum beats that serve only to keep your heart functioning. The riff of the intro is carried on into the first proper song, “Book Of Fox”, which continues to develop the snail pace of before until a small rhythm change announces the coming of the vocals. I can say that the first time I heard the vocalist it was a bit of a letdown as his tone is rather raspy and I was expecting a cleaner more soothing approach. The vocals are quite peculiar and take a bit to get used to, sometimes feeling like those used by some psychedelic rock bands, but they ultimately transpire enough emotion to be effective. The following, “Where The Ancients Dare To Walk”, keeps you in a slow headbanging mode as it plods along with powerful riffs hitting you as if they were the cold winds that punish the small cottage depicted on the cover art. The chorus is very good and the following moment is of rumbling thunder as the drummer unleashes furious double bass, something also used to great avail on “Illusive Damnation”. But it’s definitely with the first longer track that things get really interesting, with “Dawn Of Doom” bringing a melancholic riff that could very well suit in any of the gothic/doom bands of the mid-nineties, and enveloping the listener in an icy cold grip that threatens to take its breath away. The drum work is extremely percussive and piercing in its delivery, with strong hits signaling the marching beat and the plucking of the guitar chords on the main riff.

Anguish don’t have a million different riffs under their belt, in fact most of the album seems unvaried and brings about a solemn feeling of familiarity that still leads it onward relentlessly. Despite this the majority of the riffs presented here tend to have enough force and charisma to stand out, carrying and intrinsic doomed feeling with them. After hearing this album you can now relate to what I said earlier about “the power of the riff”. Strangely enough the second part of the album is the strongest, with the more upbeat “Lair Of The Gods” kicking off a series of extremely well conceived doom songs that have their apex in the monumental closer “Morbid Castle”, featuring a ghastly and suffocating atmosphere that lasts for twelve minutes. It’s the longest song and also the darkest and most oppressive sounding, with the vocalist sounding like a prisoner being tortured in a dark deep dungeon, and dueling between assailer and victim. The raging tempo shift near the five minute mark is a sign that these guys know more than just a few slow notes, as it shows them shifting tempo very effectively.

The year has barely even started and already I’m being bombarded with extremely well composed and marvelously executed albums. Quality seems to be the name of this year and a lot of good prospects rise on the near horizons if the next few months are as strong as this first trimester has been so far. Dark Descent once again managed to sign a very interesting band that is bound to stir some waters in the metal world, and one that is here to clearly show its value. Less than a year after the return of mighty Pentagram and just a few months ahead of the coming back of yet another behemoth of the scene, Saint Vitus, this Swedish quartet sets the tone and calls out on their predecessors’ powers to claim some space in a scene that deserves more recognition. Through The Archdemon’s Head is a damn good and solid slab of the more traditional variant of doom metal, and an open gateway to the scene if you’ve been unaware of it so far.

Review by Júlio Valada




Post: Julio Valada
Source: Dark Descent Records / ClawHammer PR






Metal Genres: Doom Metal |

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