ANACRUSIS

The early Anacrusis albums didn´t feature the most well sounding production jobs, and it´s probably why the band opted to re-record the material and present it with a more professional sounding production. Stylistically the material from "Suffering Hour" (1988) and the "Apocalypse" track are pretty raw and aggressive thrash metal bordering technical thrash metal, while the material on "Reason" is full-on technical thrash metal with progressive metal leanings. Lead vocalist/guitarist Kenn Nardi has a raw thrash metal voice and occasionally also delivers a high pitched piercing scream. He sings some clean vocals, but they mostly occur on the material from "Reason".

Nardi is credited for producing, engineering, and mixing "Hindsight: Suffering Hour & Reason Revisited" and it´s a relatively well produced release. I´m not sure about the whole re-recording idea though. While the first two albums arguably could have prospered from better sounding production values, there is still some charm to the gritty and unpolished nature of the original recordings, which you don´t get here. On the other hand some of the worst production errors on the original recordings have been corrected here. All clean/acoustic guitar parts for example sound good on "Hindsight: Suffering Hour & Reason Revisited", which they didn´t on the original recordings, and the clean vocals are also better sounding here than they were on the original recordings. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

The demo was recorded on a four-track tape recorder in guitarist Kevin Heidbreder's basement. Considering those recording conditions Anacrusis have managed to produce a pretty well sounding demo. Stylistically Anacrusis still play an aggressive thrash metal style, but since "Suffering Hour" they´ve increased the technical playing and progressive songwriting ideas, and it´s interesting to hear how fast Anacrusis were developing. The raw thrash metal vocals and the clean vocals are now more evenly distributed and the songs feature fewer all out thrash metal sections. Instead Anacrusis toy with different tempi, time-signatures, intriguing lead guitar work, and even some atmospheric sections. It´s a promising demo and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Stylistically Anacrusis play a raw and aggressive type of thrash/speed metal. But while it´s certainly both savage and gnarly, Anacrusis still have an occasional melodic edge (the use of guitar harmonies included) and lead vocalist/guitarist Kenn Nardi performs some clean singing in addition to his raw shouting thrash metal vocals. Considering that this is a demo recording and that it´s the band´s first demo recording, Anacrusis are a very well playing unit. The lead guitar work is especially impressive but it´s audible that all members of the band know how to handle their instruments. The vocals are pretty time-typical and standard for the genre. They get the job done but not much more than that.

"Annihilation Complete" features a well sounding demo production, which is rough around the edges, but still clear enough for all instruments and vocals to be audible in the mix. Upon conclusion it´s hard not to be a little impressed by the professionalism that Anacrusis show here and "Annihilation Complete" is arguably a promising debut demo. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Although the album, as much as its successor SCREAMS AND WHISPERS somewhat smacks of the fatalistic negativity that was dominant in the 90s (remember the grunge phenomenon), and musically originates from thrash metal, it's closest relatives can be found among the progressive death metal like ATHEIST, DEATH, and perhaps even more strikingly the German DARK MILLENNIUM. Also the hard-to-pinpoint VOIVOD and CORONER may be seen as frames of reference.

Still, comparisons belie the fact that ANACRUSIS really struck new ground. Manic Impressions is a combination that is as unlikely as it is successful of melodicity and harsness. Cold, crisp riffing is juxtaposed to the sometimes aching, depressive, mournful, angry or contemplativ vocal melodies of Kenn Nardi, who steals the show here.

The mix is as cold as ice, and I am not certain whether this takes away of the emotional content of the material. or adds to the feeling of alienation that pervades it. You decide! By all means, this album is a killer, and sadly was misunderstood by a lot of people who unsuccessfully tried to pigeon-hole this band.

The bass playes an important role in Anacrusis, and plays more on the foreground than in most other trash metalbands. The effect is amore complex sound. The guitarriffs sounds sometimes a bit naieve, but I like this chaotic sound.

I'm quiet a fan of the sang of Kenn Nardi. He uses his voice in a lot of different styles. Sometimes he uses high screams, low growls, clean sanglines and the most fantastic element is that he changes his way so often. This constantly changing in singing/ shouting / growling effects in a very complex emotional musical element. Understanding it is like understanding a psychophrenic patient. This part of this music is one of the key elements why Anacrusis feels complex.

Another part of the complexity is the constantly changing of heaviness. As I allready sad, Anacrusis is a very dynamic band. It changes from slow riffs to fast riffs and from clean guitars to distortion in very small time periods. This completes the changing of vocalstyls.

Reason is a very entertaining record wich has in my opinions no real weak points, except it's cover. This record is one of the few trash metal record (if not the only) I can listen seven days a weak without getting bored about it. By having sad that I conclude that this is without doubt a masterpiece of trash metal. Because of it's technical highstanding qualities it wouldn't suit ill in a progressive metal collection.

The thin vocals and the guitar riffs says it all, really. This is pretty standard thrash metal and it is not even good. Then again, very few thrash metal albums from that era were good. I get some associations to Slayer's Reign In Blood, but also a lot of associations and bad memories from countless thrash metal albums still in my record collection (packed away well out of view).

This album does not move me at all. The sound is pretty bad too, although not horrible and this album has a distinct lack of good songs too. Avoid.

2 stars

After three crossover hard core/thrash metal albums, Anacrusis settled down on their final album and went for respectability and sophistication.

When a pretty original sounding band seeks mainstream respectability, they normally forfeit their reason for being and their own sound. This album is no exception from this rule. I have never rated Anacrusis at all, but this new matured version of the band is pretty dull. Their mix of AOR, avant-garde and hard core sounds neutured and forced upon them. There is little originality around and even the avant garde stuff here sounds lame. The songs are decent enough and this album is by no means a turkey. Neither is it a good album and I ends this session on a two stars verdict.

2 stars

Anacrusis has returned with some horrendous bad artwork, but with some decent music. Music in the landscape between thrash metal and hard core. This type of music was called Crossover (not to be confused with the ProgArchives genre called Crossover) when I was a young man. Cryptic Slaughter and Anacrusis among the purveyors of this genre. This was back in the early 1990s. Memories, memories, memories.........

The music on this album is pretty decent. It is pretty good when the tempo is slowed down a bit. I find the more faster, chugging guitar riffs pretty uninspiring and dull. Something which there is far too much of on this album. The shrieking vocals too is pretty tiring and not good at all. Well, they wanted to make a crossover album out of it and that is what they have made. There is some good ideas here they have underdeveloped. I can understand why this band does not rate this album and why it has been re-recorded again (I believe).

This is pretty decent crossover, but nothing more. Pass me the salt and pepper please.

2 stars

Nope. Anacrusis does a blend of technical thrash, hardcore and emo metal on this album. The songs here are nothing special. The charm factor is not particular great either. The vocals are a bit special and gives Anacrusis their own identity. The rest of the band is also a tight unit.

The songs on this album seems a bit more worked through and matured than the songs from their first two albums. This album is certainly pretty mellow. The quality though is not particular good and I do not rate this album. Which at the end of the day may be down to personal preferences. This is not an album for me.

2.5 stars

As I've mentioned earlier, this is late 80's thrash metal in the vein of Slayer or Metallica, but this never reaches the high level of quality that those bands reached in the late 80's. First of all, Suffering Hour just isn't as memorable as either of those band's masterpieces. After I finished listening to this album I can only recall a few riffs, and that's always a big problem. I have a very hard time distinguishing all of the songs from each other because of the general lack of variation and memorable sections. There are a few exceptions, but generally it's hard for me to remember every song when I'm done with the album. I wish that the arrangements would have been a bit more varied. There is a limited amount of instruments on this album, and it makes the album feel linear and uninteresting by the end.

The four musicians on this album range in terms of quality. Mike Owen's drumming is pretty good; tight and fast. Not much more I could ask from a thrash metal drummer. The bass is mostly inaudible except for a few quieter parts, and that's a big problem. The two guitarists (Kevin Heidbreder and Kenn Nardi) are pretty great and really show their chops on Suffering Hour. Unfortunately, my biggest issue with this entire album is the vocals. While they aren't terrible, every now and again Kenn Nardi will do an odd, high pitched shriek that I find extremely annoying. Listen to Twisted Cross or and you will know what I mean. It sounds a bit like a dying bird to me. Needless to say it didn't impress me very much. When he sings normally or even goes rougher, he sounds great. It's just those screams that seam to appear in all of the songs that really annoy me.

As I've mentioned, the bass is generally inaudible. This obviously means that the production isn't very good. It's pretty standard for late 80's thrash metal, but I find it insufficient. It really detracts from the overall value.

Conclusion:

Suffering Hour is a rather poor debut from Anacrusis. They have never been one of my favorite thrash metal bands, and this album proves that. This is worth no more than 2 stars. If you're into Anacrusis and/or are a huge fan of early thrash metal, this might be worth getting. Keep in mind, however, that I am a big fan of thrash metal and I don't find much enjoyment from this album.

2 stars.