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RELEASE DATE: 2010-01-18
LABEL: Nuclear Blast Records
TRACKLIST:
1. And So It Begins…
2. In Snakes I Bathe
3. Born Dead
4. Bone Crown
5. Emptiness
6. Catastrophic Hybridization
7. VII: The Horror, The Destruction…
8. Impale The Sun
9. Portrait Of Souls
10. Cryogenica
11. Into The Black Slumber
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II The Reign Of Darkness
Annotations Of An Autopsy
THE REVIEW:
Rising once more from the depths of Lowestoft, UK. These gents came together in 2006 and have been described by Metal Hammer magazine as “The first UK death band to make a dent in the worldwide metal market since Carcass.” The highly anticipated sophomore album “II: The Reign of Darkness” is due for release January 18th in the UK and on the 22nd Worldwide. To say the very least, Annotations of an Autopsy have endured such unnecessary scoff and adversity upon sailing into the sea of metal know-it-alls and Internet kids who know “everything” about metal. At least the dudes in this band are doing something other than sitting on blogger.com talking shit about bands.
I digress; they released their debut EP “Welcome to Sludge City,” to a moderate acclaim. It was enough to recruit the attention of Siege Of Amida Records, who released their debut full-length “Before the Throne of Infection” to an embracing following. The album did very well in terms of extreme metal, and was very eloquently reviewed. Although incorporating sludgy and slammy breakdowns in the vein of deathcore, they were far too late in the game. As expected the new school deathcore kids and old school death metal heads alike both shit on it (I shit on it too). But these two classes of people are not well rounded in the brutal and modern death metal scene and what most of them didn’t realize about bands like Waking The Cadaver, Ingested, and Annotations of an Autopsy, is they were being embraced into the modern death scene by some of the most respected and legitimate death metal bands.
With “II: The Reign of Darkness,” Annotations of an Autopsy have joined the ranks of the well-known monster, Nuclear Blast. Let me start off by saying everything about this album is an improvement. The artwork by Par Oloffson, one of my favorite death metal artists, alone makes this album a good purchase. The effort was recorded at Foel Studio, in Wales, and engineered by Chris Fielding and the boys in Annotations of an Autopsy themselves. Mixed by none other than death metal titan Erik Rutan at his own personal Mana Studios in Florida. What “II: The Reign of Darkness” brings is a well-balanced, fresh perspective on the fusion between death metal, grind and hardcore. They’ve come such a long way from their last effort it almost doesn’t sound like the same band. It’s still groovy with breakdowns, but it’s not an overbearing slamfest stained with silly over the top vocals. This is compelling, heavy death metal and this is definitely something technically worthwhile. The production is perfect, raw but powerful, specifically the drums. I wish drum production sounded this good on every death metal album. So essentially, the biggest difference you’ll notice is the absence of pig squeals; there are some abysmal lows on every track that sound genuinely amazing, but it’s just obviously a huge improvement from the previous effort. All the vocals land in the perfect place, the rhythm sections are phenomenal and the key element on this record is structure. Every song is so well structured that each is easily memorized and catchy as fuck. This might not be a groundbreaking release, but this is one hell of a step in the right direction.
It’s no surprise the intro is nothing special, but the first track on the album, “In Snakes I Bathe,” is surprisingly good and will give you a sufficient taste of what you’re in for. They’ve seemed to take this release more serious and Steve Reagan’s vocals are honestly psychotic and well, semi-demon like. Lots of blast beats, insane breakdowns, intricate solos, and chunky modern death riffs, it has everything a true metal head needs. The song “Born Dead,” is a definite highlight track bringing the virtuoso guitar driven rhythms cocktailed with defiling breakdowns. On “Bone Crown,” they welcome of Hate Eternal and Morbid Angel fame, Erik Rutan into the ruckus to add another layer of animosity. “Impale the Sun” is definitely the most modern death metal-geared track along with “Portrait of Souls.” The closing track “Into The Black Slumber” is a slow paced sludgy onslaught that closes out the album in tortures. My two favorite tracks on the album are “Catastrophic Hybridization” for it’s catchy vocal patterns and “Cryogenica,” which has to be the best song on the album, it probably owns the sickest and most eclectic guitar riff I’ve ever heard.
The bottom line is Annotations of an Autopsy have impressed the hell out of me, they have progressed and matured better than any band I’ve seen. This is by far the best album from 2010 I’ve heard so far, and I think it will stand the test of time against it’s rivals. If this release is any indication of what else 2010 will have in store, it should be a good year.
POSTED BY: farts on 2009-12-17
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