As you know I adore the gore, but there’s more to me than that. A good summary of my relationship Death Metal actually would be the book Rotting Ways To Misery: The History Of Finnish Death Metal. Many of the bands speak of falling out of love with the genre very quickly. Whilst this hasn’t exactly happened to me, I do find myself following the same path as many of the musicians via my expanding musical taste. Now I listen to a lot of Classic Rock as well as trying to find those Death Metal bands with that little something different or extra whether that be a Blackened edge or elements of Tech. Although don’t get me wrong, you’ll still find me Slamming around at BDM gigs (whenever they happen again, what I would give to hear Colpoclesis live right not!).

Today we look at Anarkhon. I remember this band from back in my BDM infancy. The album Into The Autopsy was a real hit with me back in the day, but I can’t say I’ve kept up to date with the bands discography since. In fact, it wasn’t until this release that I realised that they had released a third record Welcome To The Gore Show in 2013. Could it be that the band have lost their edge? When Phantasmagorical Personification Of The Death Temple dropped I knew I had to get involved. From the title and artwork alone, I could sense a change in sound from these Brazilian BDM titans, but is it always a good idea to switch things up?

The first thing to strike me is maturity, again I’m not saying I don’t love my gory Death Metal (if anything that’s my bread and butter, mmm delicious brains!). Anyway, yes, maturity, Anarkhon open the occultist gates to hell with Dimensional Incantation. The opening sermon if you will is haunting and actually very fitting for this record. Then in comes the Death! Huge sound steeped in Brutal Death history with ultra-guttural vocals and this almost kvlt, Blackened tone one could almost go as far as to call this refined War Metal. It’s barbaric but at points melodic and truly it’s a huge game changer for the band. The next song has a pretty apt title, Far Beyond Blood & Death, this track continues the BDM for Black Metallers (and vice versa) trend, personally I’m all for it, I think this is the best way for a band to change a downturn in career. The guitars especially seem particularly refined and the band seem to be having a lot of fun experimenting with this sound and seemingly exploring their Brazilian Extreme Metal roots, in a sort of more savage Vulcano/ Sarcófago way. There is also a certain Doom quality in the band’s new direction too, this is really a great amalgamation of the Metal underground.

Ancient Tomb contains a definite occult air, you can almost smell the incense and anticipate the feeling of thousands of candles being lit. There is a Black Metal backing but the vocals are very BDM, possibly tinged with a touch of OSDM as well to give the album a more authentic flare. Slams are replaced by melancholic and epic Doom heavy portions in a titanic display of Extreme Metal excellence. The title track turns the epic up a notch in a manner that would suit Behemoth’s untouchable album The Satanist (a comment that is sure to upset elitists). In fact, I can very much see why this track and the emotional journey it takes the listener on was chosen as the namesake for the record, it’s huge, and possibly the best song out of the lot. The album closes with Poisoning The Air With Abysmal Presences, the drumming in this track really oozes Death Metal grit and I love that even at this late stage in the record there are still more nuances to be highlighted. It’s a solid song and a decent means of rounding off a blistering and, at least for the band ground-breaking record.

So, there we have it a change in direction that pays off. Sure, many long-time fans of the band might be aggrieved at this change but personally I love it. The main work that I praise of Anarkhon like many I’m sure would be their second album Into The Autopsy. Whilst that album is huge it’s not like Anarkhon have done much more breathtaking work since. That is until the release of Phantasmagorical Personification of the Death Temple, over the top, heavy as hell and still pushing the boundaries of extremity even in a different light, excellent material.

(9/10 George Caley)

https://www.facebook.com/anarkhon

https://dmp666.bandcamp.com/track/phantasmagorical-personification-of-the-death-temple