Anyone picked up Anthem's latest album? It was released about a week ago. Placed an order with CDJapan, so it should be here soon. Anthem is one of those bands that never forgot their roots, and it just seems like they keep getting better and better at it. Most of my favorite Anthem albums are so interchangeable, it's ridiculous to even arrange them by preference. I like both vocalists about the same, although Eizo Sakamoto sang on most of their masterpieces for me.

The band teased a music video and single by the title of "The Artery Song". YouTube sample is below. It was the first song that I'd heard, and it's just Anthem being Anthem, although when I did check out the rest of the album, I was quite floored. They're definitely not holding anything back, and even after nearly a combined thirty years of rocking out, the band is still at the top of their game.

Fans of Judas Priest and Accept need to give Anthem a try. They deserve their break here in the West. All they got to do here was play a handful of American shows in 1987 for a live album that was released shortly afterwards. It'd be nice to bring them back here. They'll never be as influential as Loudness, but they did have decent distribution in the United States through Restless Records. I believe their first six albums were the only ones to see vinyl releases here.

Engraved is fucking killer. i reviewed it on my channel. great stuff. Anthem seemed to have stuck more to their guns than Loudness ever did (even though i'm only repeating of what others said). still. i dug their first three albums as well. great steel from the land of the rising sun.

I've listened to it, though haven't bought it yet (I'm certainly going to) I thought the second half was stronger than the first half, however it was still a really enjoyable Anthem album overall as always. I'm seeing them in September! I've probably never been so excited for a concert.

Ehh, just like the other modern stuff that I've heard from Anthem, this is listenable but just not very exciting. The singer still sounds good, but the riffs don't really deliver. I'll stick to their 80s outputs. Hunting Time forever!

Love this band. I always find myself going back to No Smoke though.