Originally written by Drew Ailes
Anaal Nathrakh, one of black metal’s most extreme acts, bring you a fresh release to haunt you throughout all of 2004. For anyone who’s unfamiliar with the band, I advise you to get familiar with them right now, as you’re going to hear people talking about them for quite some time. Playing some of the fastest and most savage black metal known to man, Anaal Nathrakh are the epitome of noisy, evil, and over-the-top music; and one of the only bands that requires a drum machine due to the impossibility of finding someone who can play so inhumanly fast. So where does some of the most intense black metal come from? Norway? Sweden? Malaysia? Try England, suckers. Beginning with a frightening track complete with vomiting on it, you should know right away how fantastic Domine Non Es Dignus is going to be. Add to the fact that the title translates roughly to “The Lord Is Not Worthy”, and you’ve got a blasphemous force to be reckoned with.
There’s a lot of changes from the last few releases, which were all pretty similar. A change in production values, songwriting approach, and the addition of more ridiculous sung vocals – just a few things that stand out pretty prominently. “Do Not Speak” begins with a George Orwell quote, oddly enough, before blasting you with its almost death-metal guitar tone and launching into a beautiful and atmospheric melody, along with strong and majestic clean vocals that end on a King Diamondnote. The track ends with squealing guitar noises, spiraling about. “Procreation of the Wretched” has almost a thrashy hardcore style of riffing and anxiety-inducing keyboards before leading into more shrieked blackened-insanity and a harmonious plateau, ending with earpiercing screams. I actually hear a fair bit of Emperor in a lot of the songs, like in “This Cannot Be The End” – that is, if perhaps Emperor was completely fucking insane. Production-wise, no longer do Anaal Nathrakh have that incoherent noisy sound; now they’re favoring far more of a traditional approach to extreme metal, paying more attention to the low end. While this might sound disappointing to diehard fans, I can promise it leaves the music sounding more mature and improved. There isn’t a single bad track on the album.
Anaal Nathrakh has easily been one of my favorite bands since their first release and I’m incredibly pleased to hear their sound evolve and still keep their trademark intensity. They’ve developed more of a presence in their music. While I can see people complaining about the changes, I see even more people actually getting into the band. There’s far more to grab on to. Domine Non Es Dignus is definitely one of my top picks for 2004. Anaal Nathrakh, one of black metal’s most extreme acts, bring you a fresh release to haunt you throughout all of 2004. For anyone who’s unfamiliar with the band, I advise you to get familiar with them right now, as you’re going to hear people talking about them for quite some time. Playing some of the fastest and most savage black metal known to man, Anaal Nathrakh are the epitome of noisy, evil, and over-the-top music; and one of the only bands that requires a drum machine due to the impossibility of finding someone who can play so inhumanly fast. So where does some of the most intense black metal come from? Norway? Sweden? Malaysia? Try England, suckers. Beginning with a frightening track complete with vomiting on it, you should know right away how fantastic Domine Non Es Dignus is going to be. Add to the fact that the title translates roughly to “The Lord Is Not Worthy”, and you’ve got a blasphemous force to be reckoned with. There’s a lot of changes from the last few releases, which were all pretty similar. A change in production values, songwriting approach, and the addition of more ridiculous sung vocals – just a few things that stand out pretty prominently. “Do Not Speak” begins with a George Orwell quote, oddly enough, before blasting you with its almost death-metal guitar tone and launching into a beautiful and atmospheric melody, along with strong and majestic clean vocals that end on a King Diamond note. The track ends with squealing guitar noises, spiraling about. “Procreation of the Wretched” has almost a thrashy hardcore style of riffing and anxiety-inducing keyboards before leading into more shrieked blackened-insanity and a harmonious plateau, ending with earpiercing screams. I actually hear a fair bit of Emperor in a lot of the songs, like in “This Cannot Be The End” – that is, if perhaps Emperor was completely fucking insane. Production-wise, no longer do Anaal Nathrakh have that incoherent noisy sound; now they’re favoring far more of a traditional approach to extreme metal, paying more attention to the low end. While this might sound disappointing to diehard fans, I can promise it leaves the music sounding more mature and improved. There isn’t a single bad track on the album. Anaal Nathrakh has easily been one of my favorite bands since their first release and I’m incredibly pleased to hear their sound evolve and still keep their trademark intensity. They’ve developed more of a presence in their music. While I can see people complaining about the changes, I see even more people actually getting into the band. There’s far more to grab on to. Domine Non Es Dignus is definitely one of my top picks for 2004.
