Anaal Nathrakh - Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here

If I had the time I'd write reviews of all of this British bands records because most of them are fairly impressive from what I've heard. Unfortunately, this is the only one I've heard all of the way through and I'm going to save myself the embarassment of looking like an asshole.

Anaal Nathrakh, for all intensive purposes, is a two man black metal/grind act and this is their first record on their own Feto records. I believe they rarely play live but when they do, they are joined by additional musicians; most notably, Shane Embury of fellow British grind legends Napalm Death. If you are familiar with any of their output, you can probably roughly imagine what to expect here. Probably not totally, though.

This is a non-stop experiment in grueling, grinding, black metal insanity. I have a tendency to seek out bands that attempt this sort of style as referenced in the previous Scar Symmetry review... Zyklon, Myrkskog, etc. And this is certainly along those same lines but also, in a completely different realm.

If you are a fan of the more aggressive parts of those bands or a band like Dark Funeral, you'd do well to pick this up. The album boasts 11 tracks in just over a half hour and to describe it as unrelenting would be an understatement. In the past the band has more or less relied on the gritty extremity of their recordings to convey their rather unique brand of grind influenced black metal to, unfortunately, little fanfare. On 'Hell Is Empty...' the band branches out musically and ups the bar recording wise. The album starts out with a brooding instrumental intro and jumps head first into the thrashing, blasting "Der Holle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen." If hells revenge is, infact, cooking in their hearts, this is the musical accompaniment of this endeavor. One of the things that pulls this album together creatively and musically are the clean vocals interspersed with the breakneck drums/riffs. "Virus Bomb" is a good example of this lending to an almost anthemic feeling that is replicated in a few different spots in the album but never gets old or played out.

As for the production, it is oddly clean despite the fact that the quality is gritty and abrasive. The guitar tone has a noisy, almost solidstate quality to it that is refreshingly warm despite the cold feel of the riffs. I can't tell with the drums, whether they are live or programmed. I'd imagine they are live but some of the finer points sort of indicate programming. There are a lot of bands using programmed drums to their advantage as of late (Plague Bringer being a decent example) and I wouldn't be surprise if these were. Though they sound full and dynamic. I can't really make out a lot of the bass lines but I think it's because of the noisy quality of the guitar tone and probably the inclusion of a distortion pedal on said bass tracks.

One good thing about this record is that, while there is quite a bit going on, it's not difficult to grasp it all and the songs are short enough that you don't have to have the attention span of Stephen Hawking to comprehend it all. And before you know it, it's over.

I'm going to say this is the best black metal influenced album I've heard this year and as I mentioned, the clean vocals are a welcome addition and I hope in the future they expand the use of more diverse vocal styles. Look for this in any reputable store and tell your friends about it. This is the future of black metal.

4/5

Joe:

I am generally not a fan of Anaal Nathrakh and thats largely based on thier vocal approach and history of barely listenable recording quality. With that in mind, I really wasnt expecting much when I listened to "Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here." However, I was pleasently surprised.

Right off the bat, its apparent that a little more care was put into the recording process and unlike thier previous releases, this one is actually pretty good quality. The guitars have a great full tone and the drums actually sound like drums, a much more pleasureable listening experience. The music itself is a great step forward and actually has a little more of a thrash groove to it than thier previous efforts and they have added some melodic vocals. Hmm, never thaught I would be hearing this from these guys.

An aspect of Anaal Nathrakh and thier music overall is either you like thier delivery or not and there isnt a whole lot of middle ground. They have a signature sort of vocals and may be a bit of a turn off for many, and for me it deffinately is. Though they have diversified thier sound a little, I still am just not into these guys and I had a hard time getting through the album. For thier long time fans this album just might be thier best yet, and is a must listen to, but I just cant see myself listening to this again.

My Rating: 2/5