If you have ever given this German band’s releases a listen then you know that they rarely stick to one particular style. Indeed throughout their 20 plus releases which consist of full lengths, EPs, splits and live outings they have spanned the extreme metal genre almost fully. The music is often aggressive, hybridizing blackened ferocity with hardcore, grind, black metal and occasionally death metal, but they also indulge in ambient music as shown on the bands most recent split and a recent EP, something they have done before. The band is headed by multi-instrumentalist Tom Schmidt and throughout every release he has put out you can always rely on something different, something that he hasn’t done before as he has his hands in every single aspect of this album, from writing and playing to the artwork, mixing etc. This is the bands fifth full album and sees them divert their craft into a blackened hardcore style that is wholly savage from start to finish. Clearly Tom is angry at something as the 20 tunes, yes you read that correct, 20, are short, containing pernicious and outright nihilistic rage. As expected with so many songs the durations are considerably shorter with many of the tracks not even clocking a minute but are still packed with material to absorb.
Opening salvo is ‘Armed With Despise’ and this tune typifies the acrimony and sheer vitriol this album holds as the use of a blackened hardcore foundation is plainly evident, as is the bands tendency to add the occasional grindcore workout through the speed of the drumming. Hardcore is the focus predominantly but within the songs the band veers into post-hardcore courtesy of the ridiculously savage vocal style to post-doom due to the pacing on some of the longer tracks. The songs listen like an armoury of missiles, each as potently devastating as the next, each honed to blitzing perfection for maximum destruction as the opener is followed by two similarly short tracks titled ‘Of Rusty Knives’ and ‘Chasing Horizons’. The pulverising power that this opening triplet possesses is devastatingly effective and contrasts with ‘Spanking Your Laser Brain’ which whilst slightly longer is no less intense or enraging. At less than one minute ‘Damaged Goods’ is an explosion of blasting fury before a sample sequence greets you on ‘Destination Nowhere’. I did expect the track to slow down a tad due to it being longer but instead I was immersed into a vat of caustic and scathing savagery tempered with melody through the guitar work.
‘Doing Your Part’ stood out for being one of the most bludgeoning tunes, offering double kick strafing alongside the hardcore riffing as ‘Beneath These Hills Of Iron’ sees a shift in focus towards slower more doom laden soundscapes. That slowing down comes about half way in and to some degree I felt the song acted like a break before the second half or phase two of the albums bombardment. Said tune is morose, as the lengthy intro sequence makes you think it is going to be an instrumental until the hardcore sulfuric vocal juts in. The pacing is dynamic, fluidised ferocity to keep the songs impetus sky high before the monstrous sub-minute onslaught of ‘Negativity Bias’. The riff is excellent and before you know it the song is done as its feral attitude links nicely to the equally hostile ‘Whiteboard Criminal’ with its frenetic riff stops adding tons of momentum.
Surprisingly ‘Edge Of Reason’ opens with some acoustic guitar work, sending the tune down channels of serenity initially. It doesn’t last for long as it pivots into the hardcore riffage that also possesses a slight post-rock aura I felt, though it is very subtly done. Every tune has something to offer the listener and whilst I can’t go into every one I can point out that songs like ‘Keyboard Wars’ and ‘Tearless Oblivion’ with the former being about those people who use the internet to create division, hiding behind their computers or electronic devices, which you probably guessed at as Tom takes aim at a raft of current affairs from blind prejudice to injustice within the world. In the last four tunes you get a triple of sub one minute tunes that are possibly the most vicious on the release, each one assails the listener like battery acid in the face before ending the album with the much longer ‘Lowborn Extinction’, which clocks near five minutes. As expected the tune is slower, more expansive and riddled with riffs and hooks that had me thinking that the song has a stoner vibe threading through it. The song continually evolves adding it’s hardcore like credentials as the song also has a sample added about half way in before the song channels itself down into a very catchy phase in its latter stages.
Yet another excellent release from Ancst, one as potently pulverising as it is diverse and devastating.
(9/10 Martin Harris)
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