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Rating:
8.2 |
Anguish - Through The Archdemon's Head
14 February 2012
01. (Intro) Through The Archdemons Head
02. Book Of Fox
03. When The Ancients Dare To Walk
04. Dawn Of Doom
05. Lair Of The Gods
06. Illusive Damnation
07. The Veil
08. Morbid Castle
Yes. Totally awesome. Old school traditional doom metal with a personality of its own? Hell yes. Despite being somewhat derivative, Anguish managed to have found themselves an incredibly distinct sound.
Everything on Through The Archdemons Head is good and raw, in a campy, old-school sort of way. Take riffs similar to that of Candlemass, then combine them with vocals similar to some first wave black metal type vocals. Sort of a Cronos/Quorthon type thing going on on the vocal front I guess you could say. The end result? It's fucking evil sounding of course, and that's how Anguish really shine through with their own flavour. This a great example of the whole picture being better than the individual parts; if I had heard an instrumental version of this album, and had to match the riffs with the best fitting vocals, I don't think I could have made a better choice than these folks did. The whole picture is dark and menacing, despite each of the individual pieces being somewhat unoriginal and unremarkable standing on their own.
...And here's where it gets conflicting. Yes, it is noticeably derivative, but on the other hand it is recognizable. In other words, when this pops on your Ipod on shuffle mix tape, you're not going to have to take a double-check to see who it is you're listening to. When considering the battle this album goes through with "I've heard this all before" vs "these guys are pretty distinct", Anguish luckily have the chops to come out on the positive side.
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Written on 12.02.2012 by
Doc Godin
Former EIC, now semi-retired.
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Comments
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10
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Users visited:
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136 |
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| Can't wait to hear this full-length. Reserved the demo earlier this week and that one promises a lot. |
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| Streamed half of this couple days ago. I thought that what I heard was decent. A lousy cover artwork, but that's what the debuts are for (sometimes). |
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 I like foxes. |
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Didn't catch the whole sound of the band with this review, but I just checked some songs on YT and I'm still on it.
And you are right, those vocals are a perfect marriage with this old-schoolish doom. Me gusta, me gusta. |
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| This album is fucking stupendous. The amount of great old school/traditional stuff this year is already staggering. |
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| I love this album. Even the vocals grew on me (or rather I don't really register them any more). I hope too many people don't judge a book by its cover because that cover art is hideous. |
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Written by !J.O.O.E.! on 27.03.2012 at 17:30
I love this album. Even the vocals grew on me (or rather I don't really register them any more). I hope too many people don't judge a book by its cover because that cover art is hideous.
I actually find the cover artwork charming in its simplistic ways.
Read the first paragraph here http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=21131&lang=en  |
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Written by !J.O.O.E.! on 27.03.2012 at 17:39
Yep, they definitely seem to have an affinity for foxes, which is quite cool in its own right. I just find the artwork very, I dunno, sloppy.
In Solitude's vocalist as well, who is also in Katalysator/Invidious and guess where he is from? 
I actually enjoy the slopiness in the artwork it quiyte fits the music which is also quite sloppy at times and it doesn't come across as processed as so much other cover art |
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Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 27.03.2012 at 17:42
In Solitude's vocalist as well, who is also in Katalysator/Invidious and guess where he is from?
I actually enjoy the slopiness in the artwork it quiyte fits the music which is also quite sloppy at times and it doesn't come across as processed as so much other cover art
I can give them that, it's as far away from the shiny-shopped artwork of modern day bands as you can get. |
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