Bizarre Tales from the Past and the Future

Coming from China and being signed to Awakening Records, you’d bet almost any sum of money that Anathematise pay homage to gritty metal of the past. They do, and it’s early death thrash metal of the sort that Massacra and Morbid Saint once played, not to mention covering Possessed’s ‘Death Metal’ on this debut full-length. The production, despite rather rough edges, has that sandy, loose quality that North American thrash began to show before moving into Morrisound homogeneity, with the drums standing out as particularly acoustic, clunking away as the material moves into blasting territory. However, Anathematise are not all about aggression, crafting plenty of slower atmospheric passages that supplement the unusual themes related to Shaw Brothers films with suspense, hints at horror, and even a couple of brief samples. The whole album therefore ends up surprisingly long at 55 minutes, although the pacing works suitably.

Aside from the less common make-up of Bizarre Tales, the bulk of the content conforms to expectations of death thrash, with tempos changing regularly, solos flaring up plenty, and the vocals teetering between desperate violence and grisly tones. Indeed, the prolonged faster sections, such as during ‘Crippled Avengers’ remain right at the borderline that early Kreator pushed at, never succumbing to a settled groove but instead leaping forwards with irregular rhythmic stabs. Elsewhere, for instance on the longer ‘Ghost Eyes’, the guitarists trawl through deliberately gloomy slow passages before launching into some mid-paced tremolo attacks. These multiple techniques should keep the listener attentive for the whole experience, while the specific themes may also provide some freshness. On the whole though, Anathematise sound more like a lost outfit from 1989 than a band formed in the last 5 years.


Originally written for Metalegion #13 - www.metalegion.com