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It
is refreshing to hear a black metal band playing by old
school standards. And by that I mean that musically,
Black Anvil is pretty much a heavy metal band. Of the
best kind, I must add. Taking cues from the primitive
arrangements of early combos like Possessed, Black Anvil
is running with a very basic approach that musically,
doesn’t even approximate the super exploited paper thin
sounds of European black metal. Really, it’s like black
metal for a new generation all over again. One
generation that got stuck or wasn’t even born before
corpse paint clad forest-skipping became a national
Scandinavian pastime anyway. In that sense, Black Anvil
are coming full circle and playing tribute to a horde
unaffected by trends.
Instead,
Black Anvil drop truly heavy tunes that are melodically effusive
and violently threatening at the same time. I love Possessed and
all, but had Black Anvil been in the game back in the 80’s they
would have wiped the floor with the cover sleeves of Seven
Churches.
No kidding.
This is what I call tacit and clear songwriting. Black Anvil
write very concise and direct heavy metal tunes. At times, the
band nods its serpent topped head to modern sounding black
metal. Like is the case in “On This Day Death” when we can hear
some blast beats, and the kind of buzzsaw guitar playing that
made Norway the top of the heap. Albeit, Black Avil play it
impeccably. Surely, there is no need for excessive tightness or
technique here. Instead, Black Anvil play their satanic music
with much heart-wrenching passion.
Some may
dismiss Black Anvil as a band approaching an art form with too
much of a simplistic idea. I see it as something else, that fat
guitar dropping chugga riffs and occasional grooves is the
perfect backdrop to that eloquent voice. There is something
inherently hardcore about the chugga friendly guitars. That’s
surely a result of Black Anvil featuring members of Madball and
H2O among other NY hc bands but we ain’t here to discuss resumes
and if that’s the case Time Insults the Mind comes off with high
marks.
By the way,
do not miss the hidden Celtic Frost cover of “Dethroned Emperor”
tacked at the end. It’s worth the wait.
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Read
the Deaf Sparrow Interview with Black Anvil |
