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Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment review




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Reviewer:
9.0

248 users:
8.22
Band: Anaal Nathrakh
Album: Endarkenment
Release date: October 2020


01. Endarkenment
02. Thus, Always, To Tyrants
03. The Age Of Starlight Ends
04. Libidinous (A Pig With Cocks In Its Eyes)
05. Beyond Words
06. Feeding The Death Machine
07. Create Art, Though The World May Perish
08. Singularity
09. Punish Them
10. Requiem

I'll give it to you in one sentence; Endarkenment is extreme metal extravaganza, an uptempo soundtrack to the end of the world and album of the year material. Continue reading if you want to know why.

So Anaal Nathrakh have turned soft. I am sure many people thought exactly that when they finished listening to Endarkenment. But us metallers are somewhat desensitized towards brutality and we often have a very distorted view of what 'soft' really means. The vast majority of the 'normal' population out there would have blood coming out of their ears after having to endure only ten seconds of the Brummies' latest album. However, for a band that has pushed metal to its most extreme boundaries, this is indeed their easiest on the ears album so far. On the other hand, Anaal Nathrakh were never extreme just for the sake of extremity anyway. There has always been so much creativity, innovation and inspiration present in their works that it is a real shame that most people will never have the tolerance to experience them. Not even now, when they are at their most accessible.

Endarkenment is more akin to the sound of The Whole Of The Law than to the more 'industrialized' A New Kind Of Horror. But it is not more of the same ol', same ol'. As another big fan of the band in the Metal Storm Towers has put it, "they seem to have sifted through their previous albums, kept only the good parts and turned them into something awesome". The core of the sound is... well... -core. Grindcore, deathcore, metalcore... take your pick. But this -core is adorned with surprisingly chunky bits of very melodic black and death metal, and this record alone contains more delicious and memorable bits than many bands' entire careers do. I am personally in awe of how this duo has placed so much catchiness on top of all the blastbeating, and of how after just one listen there are so many parts of songs stuck in my head despite all the chaos. The contrast is captivating and the songs' addictiveness is very much owed to them having incredibly efficient choruses; just check out the title track, "The Age Of Starlight Ends", "Libidinous (A Pig With Cocks In Its Eyes)", "Feeding The Death Machine", and "Create Art, Though The World May Perish". But I really don't want to single out any tracks, this album is an insane banger from start to finish.

Individual performances? I'm sure you already know that Dave Hunt is one of the more versatile vocalists in metal. Between the screaming, the growling, the howling, the shrieking, the snarling, the wailing, and the squealing, it feels that with every line of lyrics he sings he tears a vocal cord. Which makes it all the more mindnumbingly unbelievable that he actually still has a voice to speak, let alone produce his operatic singing and his King Diamond-esque falsettos. And I cannot imagine any other voice complementing Mick Kenney's sonic weapons of mass destruction, this unique blend of blackened melodic grindcore that no other band can emulate.

I have always found Anaal Nathrakh to be a very difficult band to describe. In my opinion, metal was born in UK's West Midlands with Black Sabbath and its boundaries were pushed to the utmost extreme in the same area, first by Napalm Death and later by Anaal Nathrakh. The latter introduced a sound so unconventional and ever-changing between albums and songs, showcasing an impressive ability of speeding up or slowing down the tempo and of switching effortlessly from genre to genre while still maintaining cohesion. They have always been extreme and they still are but in recent years they have been incorporating more and more darkly regal melodies that have added extra beauty to the hellfire. And it is not just the general sound of Anaal Nathrakh that feels more approachable lately but also the songs they choose to end their albums with. It happened on Vanitas with "A Metaphor For The Dead" and on The Whole Of The Law with "Of Horror, And The Black Shawls", and now Endarkenment comes to a close in the most compellingly melodic and melancholic manner. The stunning outro of "Requiem" has a mellow effect that feels calming and even heart-warming when it comes after all the preceding wonderfully horrific extremity. As if the end of the world is more of a relief rather than a catastrophe.

Many of you must have heard the long-standing rumour that male pigs can orgasm for 30 minutes. I knew you'd be curious so I got the facts. In this study of 'high performance boars', the average duration of ejaculation was around 6 minutes, albeit with considerable variation since one male apparently was yielding semen continuously for 31 minutes. Pretty impressive but not good enough. Why?

Because the Endarkenment pig with the cocks coming out of its eye sockets ejaculates for a whopping total of 41 minutes. On your face.

"A pig with cocks in its eyes
Masturbating to the end of our world"





Written on 26.10.2020 by Only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud!


Comments

Comments: 19   Visited by: 194 users
26.10.2020 - 18:17
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
You like this band
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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26.10.2020 - 19:24
nikarg

Written by Bad English on 26.10.2020 at 18:17

You like this band

Who doesn't?
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26.10.2020 - 20:39
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by nikarg on 26.10.2020 at 19:24

Written by Bad English on 26.10.2020 at 18:17

You like this band

Who doesn't?

That guy whit bad english from swedish no man lands.. You know him

I did find this band in black metal radio 2005, one of rare what i can not get in.
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...
27.10.2020 - 00:03
Starvynth
i c deaf people
To be perfectly honest, Anaal Nathrakh have never been a love at first sight thing for me. Sure, they've always been good for a spontaneous ride, preferably somewhere in a filthy backyard, when nobody's watching. Quick and dirty.

But this time around, it's a perfect love affair. Singularity got me hooked within its first bars. This, the title track, Libidinous and Requiem are simply massive, I just cannot tear myself away from their attraction. A perfect blend of sheer heaviness and beautiful harmonies and melodies. So there I said it and I will say it again: Dave Hunt's clean vocals are beautiful.

Talking about beauty: your last paragraphs are hands down one of the best closings of a review I've ever read.


PS - I love what you said about the West Midlands. The cradle of metal and European extreme metal, it's right there.
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signatures = SPAM
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27.10.2020 - 00:42
nikarg

Written by Starvynth on 27.10.2020 at 00:03

Talking about beauty: your last paragraphs are hands down one of the best closings of a review I've ever read.

Thank you. I tried my best for it to get a spot on this list, we'll see if my best was good enough, won't we?

I guess my relationship with AN has been similar to yours. Not a band for every day but a nice and filthy trip whenever I am in the mood for one. But this album is so addictive and it gives me such a hard on I love it so much that I can't stop listening to it. And yes, Dave Hunt's clean vocals are insanely good.

"Singularity" is probably my favourite. Or maybe it is not, my favourite changes every time I spin the album anyway.
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27.10.2020 - 01:14
Starvynth
i c deaf people
Written by nikarg on 27.10.2020 at 00:42

Thank you. I tried my best for it to get a spot on this list, we'll see if my best was good enough, won't we?

Damn, I've almost forgotten about that list.
But you're totally right, it wouldn't be complete without the only review featuring a bukkake reference and the involvement of a pig we ever had.
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signatures = SPAM
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27.10.2020 - 11:34
corrupt
With a lowercase c
Excellent review!

You made a point that I didn't even notice myself in how their sound has turned way more approachable but they managed to make it interesting again. I still long for another album in the likeness of Codex Necro or even Eschaton, but as far as their sound since Passion, this is as good as it gets. I can't remember the last time I had a single record on constant replay for over a month while using every free couple of minutes minutes to grab my headphones and listen to another song.

I don't even really mind them using the same structure over and over again when the execution is this much on point. I can't get the drum bursts in Thus, Always, to Tyrants out of my head and neither the weltschmerz-laden "fuck" in Beyond Words. This album is exactly the music I need right now and you found perfect words for it.
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27.10.2020 - 12:26
nikarg

Written by corrupt on 27.10.2020 at 11:34

Excellent review!

Thanks! I feel this is their best release since Eschaton tbh.
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27.10.2020 - 13:38
corrupt
With a lowercase c
Written by nikarg on 27.10.2020 at 12:26
Thanks! I feel this is their best release since Eschaton tbh.

I said the same thing. Most of their albums since Passion were OK'ish but nothing to write home about. This one plays in an entirely different league, despite following the same recipe. It's like they finally unlocked the Enslaved secret to stylistic progression.
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28.10.2020 - 03:51
barnesy

This is killer! Their best and most melodic work- definitely on my AOTY list.
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28.10.2020 - 10:34
Rating: 9
Daniell
_爱情_
My album of the year has been the same since February - Psychotic Waltz. But Anaal Nathrakh might just change that. I'm not sure yet.
As great as your review is, I disagree with one point. In my opinion, their most accessible album is Desideratum. But quality-wise, Endarkenment blows it out of the water, as it does most of their back catalogue.
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28.10.2020 - 10:54
Rating: 9
DarkWingedSoul

Agree with Daniell, also PWaltz is on the top of my 2020 list
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28.10.2020 - 12:03
nikarg

Written by Daniell on 28.10.2020 at 10:34

My album of the year has been the same since February - Psychotic Waltz. But Anaal Nathrakh might just change that. I'm not sure yet.
As great as your review is, I disagree with one point. In my opinion, their most accessible album is Desideratum. But quality-wise, Endarkenment blows it out of the water, as it does most of their back catalogue.

Yes, I see the point you make about Desideratum but I feel that Endarkenment is more likely to attract someone who is not an Anaal Nathrakh fan but this may well be because Endarkenment is a much better album.

At this point I have three AOTY contenders. The albums by Psychotic Waltz, Sweven and Anaal Nathrakh.
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28.10.2020 - 19:25
Desha
delicious dish
Written by nikarg on 27.10.2020 at 12:26

Thanks! I feel this is their best release since Eschaton tbh.

That's a really good review cause that's my favourite of theirs so far. And yeah I like it from the songs I heard before. I find it really hard to compare their albums though, cause I think they might be formulaic and that could ruin the band for me if I really dug deep?
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You are the hammer, I am the nail
building a house in the fire on the hill
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28.10.2020 - 21:47
nikarg

Written by Desha on 28.10.2020 at 19:25

That's a really good review cause that's my favourite of theirs so far. And yeah I like it from the songs I heard before. I find it really hard to compare their albums though, cause I think they might be formulaic and that could ruin the band for me if I really dug deep?

It's all a matter of personal preference, but my favourites are the debut because it's the most evil-sounding one, Eschaton because of the stellar songwriting and this latest one because it's catchy as hell. However, Hell Is Empty, In The Constellation, Vanitas, and The Whole Of The Law are really good albums too. In my opinion, this band is not one that you can go through their whole discography in one go, you have to listen to other things in between.

I am not sure if this answers your question. And now that I am reading your comment again, I am not sure you were actually asking a question to begin with
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30.10.2020 - 06:00
Rating: 9
tintinb

That ending though.
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Leeches everywhere.
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01.11.2020 - 21:30
Rating: 9
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Written by tintinb on 30.10.2020 at 06:00

That ending though.


From past 3.14 to the end is fucking killer. It stuck in my head.
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01.11.2020 - 21:57
Starvynth
i c deaf people
Written by Cynic Metalhead on 01.11.2020 at 21:30

Written by tintinb on 30.10.2020 at 06:00

That ending though.

From past 3.14 to the end is fucking killer. It stuck in my head.

I'm pretty sure that he's bowing down before the review's ending. It's brilliant, so maybe you too should read it some day.
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02.11.2020 - 05:07
Rating: 9
tintinb

I was bowing down to the review's ending. But the album is spectacular as well.
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Leeches everywhere.
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