Sympathy - Anagogic Tyranny - guest review

Sympathy - Anagogic Tyranny - guest review

Cover image of the reviewed item
Band
Sympathy
Release date
November 11, 2008
Reviewer
8.1
8.0
Tracklist
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
Guest review by
Tristus Scriptor
June 17, 2012
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.
Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 8
Production: 7
Written by Tristus Scriptor | June 17, 2012
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.

Comments

Comments: 4 Visited by 25 users
Milena
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Staff

Posts: 4603


Permalink
18.06.2012 - 16:24
Milena
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Staff

Posts: 4603


I'm not interested in the band, but this is a fairly good written review.
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7.0 means the album is good
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Tristus Scriptor
Rancid Reviewer

Posts: 293


Permalink
18.06.2012 - 20:21
Tristus Scriptor
Rancid Reviewer

Posts: 293


Thank you, Mora.
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Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Elite

Posts: 21306


Permalink
19.06.2012 - 01:07
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Elite

Posts: 21306


In my opinion this is Sympathy's best release, but it still never stood out to me. It's pretty groovy and even a little technical, but it just seems a little too bland for me. Probably a low 7/10.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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Tristus Scriptor
Rancid Reviewer

Posts: 293


Permalink
19.06.2012 - 02:10
Tristus Scriptor
Rancid Reviewer

Posts: 293


Yeah. As I implied- I'm a bit partial to them. Their sound just *does it* for me for some reason. But that's cool. We all got our thangle that jingles our jangle.
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