The Grotesquery – The Lupine Anathema (Big Words For Werewolves)

I’m trying to think of the last time I experienced werewolves and death metal coming together for a love child. Maybe it never happened, but I feel like it had to at some point. Well, if not, or if it did and I forgot, time for some new memories. The members of The Grotesquery are separated by an ocean, and their resumes are ridiculous, filled with possibly the most former band connections I’ve ever seen in all my years doing this. The vocalist, and also man behind the cool cover art, Master K. Lee (Kam Lee), worked with Death for the love of god. Not that I ever liked that band, overrated in my opinion, but what that single example says is The Grotesquery are living the death metal life. In it till death, as they should say. I don’t think they say that yet, but just stop and think about it a second because it sounds cool. At least one of them was in Death, though Okay, now let’s get into this album that using big names for werewolf talk, The Lupine Anathema. The title is actually much longer than that, technically (see above), but we’ll stick to the abridged version.

  

By definition I should hate absolutely everything about this album. It features goddamn stupid samples I know they ripped from An American Werewolf in London and probably at least one Halloween spooky sounds CD, and they engage in goddamn storytelling for one of the tracks, about werewolves and wendigos, but not even in a logical spot. Track 4 WTF? But damn I just love listening to this help me. When I first started spinning The Lupine Anathema it was effectively typical in many ways, yet I found that The Grotesquery managed to chug and riff in a special way. Since I didn’t feel like swapping out MP3s on my, get this, MP3 player I still own, I kept rolling with it. Damn if this one doesn’t get legitimately, not figuratively, better with every listen, but if you think I have an educated explanation for that, I don’t. The most I can figure is The Grotesquery, with all their experience and long connection to the scene, just get it. Some of the main passages are stellar, honestly, and goddamn if those stupid wolf howling samples just work for some reason WTF. It’s standard death metal in many ways, but I suppose the combination of US and Swedish styles is something like taking a fresh puzzle, casting the pieces on the ground, and finding a number of them just happen to fit. I’m not sure how they made the werewolf thing work without sounding like idiots, but there’s some sort of magic in here, I’ll be damned.

 

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Written by Stanley Stepanic

The Grotesquery – The Lupine Anathema
Xtreem Music
4.1 / 5