Whenever the RMR crew members need to lose some mental steam, Anaal Nathrakh is the go-to band. That’s where real rage happens, delivered by two true wackos. It’s like a steely high-pressure valve. And we’re all hoping that they’ll still continue for a while longer. We might soon run out of records to cover, else. This fucking crazy world of ours is wearing us out and some will need this band’s ferocity or some folks might just grab that chainsaw back in the shed.
More elegantly put, AN records are a cathartic experience that will keep those wilde beasts at bay. Time for another one, the RMR crew’s pressure valve is going into overdrive.
Endarkenment left some mixed impressions over here. After all, it’s one of the more accessible records of the serpent breath’s crew. And that, despite cocks in pigs’ eyes and all that jazz. This particular provocation didn’t quite work out, though. Many a publisher preferred the politically correct cover to strut their stuff, the wusses. In other words, the beastly metalhead may use this one for soothing midnight music during balmy summer evenings to impress his or her mate. Yet, In the Constellation of the Black Widow was a totally different matter. That’s true unhinged ferocity that burned our socks off and singed our beards out of recognition. Maddened screams, crazed riffing, and mincemeat where your ears once were.
So, the RMR crew, on end-of-vacation cold turkey pains, searched for that other scorcher. Hell is Empty still kinda grows on us.1 But – boy – did The Whole of the Law submerge our shores like a fiery meteor about to destroy the sweetish Metal o’ the Light. I guess, the mad howling from the antichrist choir on Depravity Favours the Bold2 really gave us that little push. A track right down our alley, the mighty jester in all its fucking glory. Complete with multilayered totally deranged rasps.
And boy, did they let loose on that one, too. Bleak screeching to make Dani Filth go yellow with envy, vile rasps, and sudden interludes of trademark clears that ring out at any odd moment. Good ol’ Vitriol aka Dave Hunt at his very best again. Metalcore chugs that suddenly start to grind South. Croaky monologues that thrive on Death Metal beats scorching themselves black at a moment’s notice. And whilst other metal bands try to nicely layer their wares, the dudes over at Anaal Nathrakh just pile one wild often blackened riff upon the other to the point of sensory overload. What saves them from being shipped to a high-security asylum on medication are those eerie melodic blurbs and the chorus from hell that suddenly follow you around like Hermione, the vengeful grandmother, with a blood-dripping butcher’s knife. And – perhaps – the aforementioned clear voice interludes as well.
One of the true pillars on The Whole of the Law are those chillingly strong lyrics, though. Already the track Hold Your Children Close and Pray for Oblivion already instills the fear of Hel’s horrors in you. But stark messages like – and I quote – “...the strong will do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must, shallow be thy graves…” will make you lose some sleep. So, you won’t only get roasted to a crisp by those scorched earth riffs and vocals that feel like a red-hot brand iron pressed into your brain. It’s also the spoken word and some samples that will try to terrify you out of your wits. As in …So We Can Die Happy with that guy in his death throes.3
Oh, and the Hunt / Kenney team also threw in two bonus tracks. The RMR crew usually sorely ignores those. But the aged Powerslave got a typical AN makeover and it was too good to just glance over it. And this makes me want to sign a petition to fire Dickinson and get them some powerful Vitriol. Iron Maiden fully invigorated in full daemonic form. That kind of thing.
In a way, The Whole of the Law is the perfect sequel to the aforementioned Widow. A bit more refined perhaps, but still full of raw, unhinged atrocities. The record often feels like someone rubbing salt into open wounds whilst a rusty knife scrapes down your living blood-filled bones. Ah, the power of truly vile and offensively obnoxious metal of two guys without guardrails. And that’s exactly how we want our metal served from one of the best Extreme Metal outfits out there. Excellence in outrageous metal extravaganza? Quite.
And indeed, the show’s over and the RMR crew is calm and serene again. This is what we wanted, and this is what we needed to paraphrase some more.4 Right now, this moment. The valve worked, mission fucking accomplished.
Ed’s note: Fancy more blasts from the past? We got you covered.
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Metal Blade Records | Web: Facebook (band)
Release Date: 28 October 2016