The appointment is here. Anaal Nathrakh is back with Endarkmend, the band’s eleventh album.
Founded in 1999 by Mick “Irrumator” Kenney (all instruments, Born to Murder the World, Make Them Die Slowly, ex-Fukpig, ex-Mistress) and Dave “V.I.T.R.I.O.L.” Hunt (vocals, Fukpig, ex-Benediction, ex-Mistress), the band evolves from Raw Black to Black/Grind to finally include Industrial influences. About live shows, the band can count and counted on renowned musicians as Anil Carrier (drums), Drunk (bass, Fukpig, Make Them Die Slowly), Shane Embury (bass, Napalm Death, Venomous Concept, Brujeria…), John Cooke (guitar, Napalm Death, Corrupt Moral Altar…), Dan Rose (guitar, Besieged), Frank Healy (bass, Memoriam, ex-Benediction…).
(Original uncensored artwork at the end of the review)
This full-length is, according to the band, a criticize of the actual society. And obviously, it is in pure oppression and violence that the band chose to express themselves.Between Endarkment, a raw and uncompromising song that highlights grindcore influences, to incredible orchestrations and vocal performances, Thus, Always, To Tyrants, that focuses on blackness and unhealthy sonorities, and The Age Of Starlight Ends, an energetic and catchy composition, the band is going full force! We find disturbing melodies on Libidinous (A Pig With Cocks in its Eyes), the song that embodies the uncensored artwork, but also this visceral side that the combo sets up from the beginning, just like a sharp sound for Beyond Words, that reminds early fans pure and raw violence. Howlings, fast-paced riffs and blast, here is what we can expect.
Feeding the Death Machine is the next one, playing on fastness and heaviness to carry an impressing vocals, whether on howlings or clean parts, just like the dark Create Art, Though the World May Perish. For this song, needless to say that the band once again overpasses the boundaries of oppression because you will feel it from the first notes. Disturbing and aggressive, the sound literally wrests our mind until Singularity a more modern but as impressive song. The vocalist once again demonstrates us his abilities, while the composer offers a true sonor hurricane, as intense than heavy. The spiteful Punish Them is the next one, and it is obvious that violence is part of the song that smashes everything over its pass. Last song, Requiem is as soaring than sharp, as brutal than unhealthy, and above all it allows to close this chapter with as much power than the firsts notes, but also an ice-cold melody in the background.
Unsurprisingly, Anaal Nathrakh literally smashes us under their sound. Endarkment allows to link the band’s firsts productions and their more recent sound. In my opinion, it is a clear and massive yes, and I just wait for their live shows.
97/100
