Anaal Nathrakh – Vanitas

The wait is over and Anaal Nathrakh is back. I have said before that Anaal Nathrakh is a band that holds the flag of extremity as high as possible. And with every release they prove me right. “Vanitas” though have exceeded my expectations. Some call them black metal and some grindcore. I am not a part of both opinions. In my eyes Anaal Nathrakh is an extreme metal band and that is how I treat them. Ok back in 2001 and “The Codex Necro” they played raw black metal and to that I cannot do but agree. Many say that “In The Constellation Of The Black Widow” we get the best out of them. I disagree because when I listened to “Passion” I could see that these guys could give us a lot of more.

What can I say about the music? Those who know what Anaal Nathrakh is all about will be satisfied with this CD. The others who do not agree with their music or their lyrics (if you can found some) should do wise to stay away once more. It is the same malevolent creations that they have offered us since their first release in 2001.

So what “Vanitas” has to offer us? First of all the V.I.T.R.I.O.L.-ic vocals of course are present. They are harsh and so crazy once more that makes you want to scream along. Yes the screams are nightmarish, just listen until the end all the album and especially “Forging Towards The Sunset”. The lyrics are what you can draw out of the context and my guess is that they are absolutely not favoring Christianity and the human kind. You guess it right, in this CD we have the same misanthropic urge as anyone would expect. In addition the same fast and grinding drums are present through whole the album. The guitar and orchestrations are again insane and genius all in one package. With great wicked melodies and riffs that can blow up your speakers. In conclusion I will refer to the samples. They are there once more, well used and exactly to the point.

Yes many of you should say that it is just another Anaal Nathrakh release with nothing to let it step out from the others. I do not know if it is because it is one of my favorites and I am excited every time these guys release something, but this band for never deliver a mediocre album. Especially for those into the extreme I believe that Anaal Nathrakh have it all.

In the end I should mention the guest appearances. We have many of them again as always. We have a guest female vocalist called Elena Vladi, but don’t expect female clean vocals. Then we have three guitar guest musicians. One is Dave Nassie of the US metalcore band called Bleeding Through. The other two are Canadians. The one is Robert Mercier and the other is Steeve Hurdle (R.I.P.) of the great deathmetallers Gorguts.

Though “I.T.C.O.T.B.W.” and “Eschaton” are my favorites so far, “Vanitas” get a place in my heart almost immediately with songs like “You Can’t Save Me, So Stop Fucking Trying”, “Of Fire, And Fucking Pigs”, the insane “Todos Somos Humanos” and of course the perfect “Forging Towards The Sunset”.