Band:	Sympathy
Album:	Anagogic Tyranny
Style:	Technical death metal
Release date:	November 11, 2008
Guest review by:	Tristus Scriptor

01. Insurrection
02. And All Flesh
03. On A Bloodied Cross
04. Ours The Grave
05. Perfection In Death
06. Enslaved By Depravity
07. Underworld
08. Forgotten Temples
09. The Iscariot Aspect: Fides Quarens Intellectum
10. Potter's Field: Hic Occultus Occulto Occisus Est

Ah, Sympathy. They are a treasure nestled firmly within the recesses of metal's shadow-realm. No, this does not mean that they are the most evil band in the land. In fact, many little details would prove otherwise. (This is an irrelevant issue that I do not wish to focus on, especially since their rabid delivery could scare the pants off of a good percentage of "satanic" bands.) They simply seem to be unknown to the bulk of death metal's fanbase. They dwell in the same shadows as do such greats as Brutality and Resurrection; which is a blissful corner of the metal world that contains bands that could eat many of the genre's better-known bands for breakfast.

I'm being very subjective when dealing with reviewing these guys because a) they happen to be one of my favorite bands, and b) I realize that this release is not even close to a perfect ten of an album. My ears might hear a home run, yet I do notice that there's an uneven production (particularly in the drum levels), scattered structure (for better or for worse), a nagging lack of deeper guttural vocals (that would probably get this release closer to the mark), and maybe even a few other flaws that I'm failing to mention. But I am personally blown away every time I spin this lethal mofo.

Stylistically, I would place Anagogic Tyranny somewhere in the vicinity of Morbid Angel's Altars of Madness sideswiping Suffocation's self-titled comeback album because Behemoth's Satanica ran a red light in front of them. If you let that analogy stew in your noggin for a minute, you'll realize the intensity of the material presented.

One of my favorite things about this album is that, amongst the bludgeoning chugs and blasts, these certain little meticulously crafted solos of a melodic, Rutan-esque variety just pop up, breaking up the chaos in a refreshing and psycho-tasty way. It's aspects like these that cause the listener to scan deeper into the listening experience to look for intricacies that might otherwise have been lost.

I could go on and on. I'll spare you the drivel. Bottom line: if very aggressive death metal that spans from Florida to NYC with a sprinkle of Polish spices sounds like your bag of bones, then seek this one out.