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Anaal Nathrakh - The Whole Of The Law



8.3 | 212 votes |
Release date: 28 October 2016
Style: Black metal, Grindcore

Owners:

171 have it
22 want it


01. The Nameless Dread
02. Depravity Favours The Bold
03. Hold Your Children Close And Pray For Oblivion
04. We Will Fucking Kill You
05. ...So We Can Die Happy
06. In Flagrante Delicto
07. And You Will Beg For Our Secrets
08. Extravaganza!
09. On Being A Slave
10. The Great Spectator
11. Of Horror, And The Black Shawls
12. Powerslave [bonus] [Iron Maiden cover]
13. Man At C&A [bonus] [The Specials cover]

The Best Industrial / Cyber / Electronic Metal Album Of 2016
Top 20 albums of 2016: 18
Featured In "Getting Into: Anaal Nathrakh"

Additional info
Powerslave (Iron Maiden cover) won The Best Cover Song in the Metal Storm Awards 2016

Guest review by
AndyMetalFreak
Rating:
8.7
As with previous Anaal Nathrakh albums, this record begins with such brutality right from the start, and could not begin with a more menacing opener. It's clear that, after the first few tracks, this is going with the same theme as Vanitas, in terms of aggressive lyrics and the outrageous song titles, and like Vanitas, the cover art is deeply disturbing; I'm not quite sure what it depicts, homosexual cannibalism?

It's hard to describe a particular genre for this album; the element of black metal is still there, probably more blackened than previous albums, and less of the grindcore, but with this album there is an apparent difference in the sound. The introduction of the symphonic vocals in the background is a big one; it gives the record a darker and more disturbing atmosphere than previous albums, and with this they also took a more Industrial and synthetic approach to their sound. Even by Anaal Nathrakh standards, this new approach sounds even more chaotic.

The harsh vocals are intense as usual, with uncomfortable, brutal screams, and with such raw emotion, capable of giving an easy listener a severe headache! This, to me, is exactly what this high end of extreme metal is all about, and I absolutely love it! But with all this brutality, you will hear clean vocals being used for the choruses; the clean vocals are a simple touch, but make such a huge difference, as it breaks up the chaos and adds a touch of melody.

"Hold Your Children And Pray For Oblivion", "On Being A Slave" and "So We Can Die Happy" are some of my favourite Anaal Nathrakh songs, as well as the opening two tracks; although some songs may seem slightly weaker, there is no song here weak enough to seem out of place or affect the overall consistency of the album.

If anyone was to ask me what I would consider the heaviest album to be, then this album will be up there, at least based on what I consider in terms of heaviness.

To quickly summarise this, it's intense, it's brutal and has a ferocious tempo, and may not be for the faint-hearted; if you're new to Anaal Nathrakh and this kind of metal, then you might find listening a bit hard-going first time round. However, it surprisingly may have the potential to grow on you If you allow it; if you enjoyed Vanitas then there should be every reason for you to like this one.

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published 22.08.2021 | Comments (1)

Found in 33 lists
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Comments

Comments: 29   Visited by: 668 users
17.08.2016 - 20:29
Rating: 8
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
New song online.

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17.08.2016 - 21:26
Rating: 6
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
Sounds interesting. This band is progressively evolving to industrial black
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"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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17.08.2016 - 22:40
Rating: 7
Unhealer
Eclecticist
Sounds great. Listening to AN albums always bring me happy memories.
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18.08.2016 - 03:42
Alondate

This one sounds different but still great. I like bands that always change their sound in every album
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21.08.2016 - 13:53
3rdWorld
China was a neat
Almost no grind in that track there and it sounds badass even with choruses and clean vocals. This better be fucking awesome.
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19.09.2016 - 09:31
Joe Zombie

That track is furious. Good things will come with this album.
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28.09.2016 - 01:13
Rating: 9
Netzach
Planewalker
Second released track "Hold Your Children..." is electronic yet violent as hell. As someone who has been a bit disillusioned with AN the last few albums I really think this will be a return to form. Fuck yeah.
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05.10.2016 - 05:12
Leaked already. So heavy it almost created a black hole in my subwoofer.
8/10
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05.10.2016 - 18:42
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Can't remember the last time I really cared about AN but this solidfun.
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06.10.2016 - 09:52
Joe Zombie

I've mostly listened to this group's newer material and I'd say this is the best of it. Such a ferocious album that never lets up. Tracks 3, 4, 5, and 11 really stood out to me. Awesome record.
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06.10.2016 - 21:24
Rating: 10
Absak

Written by Joe Zombie on 06.10.2016 at 09:52

I've mostly listened to this group's newer material and I'd say this is the best of it. Such a ferocious album that never lets up. Tracks 3, 4, 5, and 11 really stood out to me. Awesome record.

I have to agree, though I haven't listened to it enough to say if it's better than In The Constellation Of The Black Widow but it's definitely close. Also the King Diamond impression on Extravaganza! is great.
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20.10.2016 - 19:14
Rating: 7
Unhealer
Eclecticist
Really fun album. Business as usual, nothing new.

Written by Guest on 05.10.2016 at 18:42

Can't remember the last time I really cared about AN but this solidfun.


Didn't you check their previous album "Desideratum"? It's quite as fun as this one.
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20.10.2016 - 19:45
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Unhealer on 20.10.2016 at 19:14

Didn't you check their previous album "Desideratum"? It's quite as fun as this one.

Not sure I even did tbh. It's definitely been a while before this one.
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23.10.2016 - 08:42
Rating: 9
Bigpaul

Far stronger than their last effort. the production/sound on this one is excellent.
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23.10.2016 - 08:59
Rating: 8
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
I haven't get to this one yet. Awaiting in my list far below.
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24.10.2016 - 11:58
Daniell
_爱情_
One of the bands that make a drum machine sound good. This album is so much better than Desideratum and Passion. Perhaps on a par with Vanitas, but it's too early to tell for sure.
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28.10.2016 - 01:20
Rating: 10
FYA
Destroyer
This is just a perfection. One of the very best albums of AN.
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28.10.2016 - 01:58
Alondate

I sounds like a beast so far
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28.10.2016 - 03:46
Iron Maiden should be proud
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31.10.2016 - 07:10
Rating: 9
Soulhole

This has been my introduction to AN. Had no idea what to expect and I'm happy to say I'm very impressed. So brutal and chaotic but not in the annoying way I typically hear from grind oriented bands. This album has solid direction and the overall craziness has purpose. I agree with other reviewers that say this album is fun.
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31.10.2016 - 10:36
Rating: 9
koob

Waaaay better than the previous one, song 11 is sick.
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05.11.2016 - 21:23
Rating: 8
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
What could have been more chaotic, ferociousness and unrelentless power of fucking brutality than new Nathrakh's record. It was absolutely amazing. Definitely sound much better than last two releases (Vanitas & Desideratum), which I felt listening to same album under different names. This is something been done out of the comfort zone, disturbed the linear musical notes, bought lot of cacophony with superb drumming.

Well delivered record with kind of expectations i had on them.
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23.11.2016 - 18:56
Rating: 8
Enissa

Decent album and really enjoyable, even though the annoying clean vocals sometimes sound like the vocalist's testicles being torn apart as he screams bloody murder.
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15.01.2017 - 11:48
Fallen Ghost
Craft Beer Geek
This album friggin slays! More of the same, but in a refreshing way. Hold Your Children Close And Pray For Oblivion.. Holy crap what a song!
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17.02.2017 - 06:52
3rdWorld
China was a neat
Sounds too sterile to me, needs to be heard on good speakers tbh. And Man At C&A is just dumb and awful. Its the worst possible way to end the album even if its just a bonus, I shouldn't have heard it.
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17.02.2017 - 14:26
Rating: 8
Deadmeat
Necrobutcher
I find this much more boring than their previous albums.. Almost all their previous albums... I can see why people like it, it kinda reminds their first albums, but i find it lacking good songwriting.. So we can die happy and We will fucking kill you are my only favs... They have those amazing melodic parts i loved this band for...
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Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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29.03.2018 - 00:35
Rating: 10
damnfool

Honestly, everyone that gave that album less than 9 didn't listen to it properly or is incapable of appreciation of divine art. All AN albums require at least 50 rounds. Not just casual listening. Heavy duty listening, with use of hq sound device. I've been listening TWOTL for over 2 months constantly at home and at work. Now, when I memorized 99% of notes, I can say that, although most of AN albums are insanely great, this one is transcendentally breathtaking. I can't have enough of it, I have it constantly in a repeat mode. The worst thing is, hardly anything else than that is now listenable.
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30.03.2018 - 14:13
Rating: 8
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Written by damnfool on 29.03.2018 at 00:35

Honestly, everyone that gave that album less than 9 didn't listen to it properly or is incapable of appreciation of divine art. All AN albums require at least 50 rounds.


Let me clear some of your misconceptions:

1. Not everyone worship AN as much as you do.

2. I don't know from where you have reached to the figure of "50 rounds" of minimum playing. It's utterly baseless considering the fact that everyone has their own understanding of music which artists provides. Some may take less than a week to judge a record or some may go over 6 months to come to the conclusion. For me, both are correct.

3. Whoever rated less than 9 "didn't pay attention" to what AN offered -- absolute bullshit. Sometimes you don't need much "focus" to give records a "10" because they're absolutely flawless. Vice versa, there are records which you paid "attention to even titbits" have grossly failed. Again, to each their own understanding.

It's good that your perception towards "The Whole Of The Law" is flawless( which is 10 on 10) and indeed, it isn't a bad record at all but dictating terms to what "listeners" do and don't is nonsensical.
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30.03.2018 - 16:54
Zap
Guest
All AN albums require at least 50 listens? Hahahaha hahahahahahahaha
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