Moshpit anthems, thrashy punishment, riff tornados, buzzsaw guitars and haunting melody are all mooted as part of the package of this album from Finland’s Anzillu. With experienced operatives behind the production and mastering, this all sounded promising.
And what a jolly romp it is. “Needles (On My Nerves)” is thrashy but was not punishment, at least to my ears. With lashings of melody and riff currents which can be associated with Children of Bodom and Mors Principium Est, this takes us back to an earlier era of thrash metal. In the accompanying blurb, I read the claim that “you hear a band playing” and editing is kept to a minimum. I hear that. “Mental Graveyard” pumps on in a kind of old school style. There’s plenty of energy and plenty of attitude, less thrashy this time but pure driving melodic metal. “Trumpets of War” is the song that got the tag of being a “moshpit anthem”. Hmm, not so sure about that. It’s riff-laden for sure but didn’t burst out of the blocks for me. By contrast “The Cleansing Flame”, which follows it, is pure adrenaline and moshpit-inducing. There’s a nice switch of tempo mid-way through but sparks fly and guitars flail still.
Virtuosity stands behind the dark drama of “Discordia” – it’s some way away from the pure thrash but for me this outpouring of sophisticated metal melody laid out the outstanding musical qualities of this band. “Dauntless” is haunting indulgence – another showcase of this versatile metal band. Now and again I found a dourness in the songs as if Azillu were working out where to go, and “Splinter in the Mind’s Eye” is like this, except for the ending which is like a race horse bolting. The momentum is maintained with the breathless thrash of “Vulture”. With the gang joining in, there’s an element of hardcore here. The guitar work is as ever razor-like. The vocals are hoarse and high-pitched. “Vulture” gives way to the sizeable title song. It’s Ozzy Osbourne meets prog-doom to begin with, a far cry of what we’d heard prior to this, although the song develops, there is the reassuring sound of that familiar melodic thrash metal guitar riff, and fire and fury aplenty. The latter part takes us in another dark and almost military direction and so ends this album of mixed flavours.
This journey across metal genres gives plenty of cause for excitement. “Ex Nihilo” is quite a diverse album, although at the heart of it is that melodic thrash feel. Much of it is moshpit-friendly while other parts seem like an experiment. There is experience in Anzillu, and this shows in the tight musicianship, but structurally it was if the band was searching for its direction when compiling this album.
(7/10 Andrew Doherty)
Leave a Reply