Originally formed under the moniker of Dugu, it was a love of horror ‘’B’’ Movies and unspeakable atrocities that would later form the basis for Anathematise, now a five-piece no less extreme as revealed on their debut album Bizarre Tales from the Past and the Future.
The Chinese act takes its roots from Massacra and Possessed (a cracking version of Death Metal is featured here). Is it thrash, it is deathened thrash delivered in a clipped, urgent style that borders on the brutal and is utterly uncompromising. It is pure underground metal that is defiant and angry in its core beliefs and delivery.
From ‘’ Intro + Revenge of the Corpse’’ the intent is clear, dripping in blood, and the unspeakable ‘’ Corpse Mania’’ is more pure speed/ death metal goodness given a rusty serrated knife stab to the guts with its incisive riffs and the grotesque atrocities that pour form the throat of ‘’89’’.
Bizarre Tales from the Past and the Future shares a love for the horrific and obscure underground influences ‘’ Seeding of a Ghost’’, and the epic closer ‘’ Hell Has No Boundary’’ push the music further into the depths and reveals more dimensions to their music that has melody hidden under the entrails and gore driven by a demonic rhythm section.
Anathematise have delivered a debut for the purists and purist only. It makes no apologies for its celebration of violence and its tough virulent attack on the senses. The rawness only adds to the authenticity, and Bizarre Tales from the Past and the Future reflects their love for the speed and death metal terror, the cult of the eighties and the future of extreme music.
Anathematise: N/A
Release Year: 2023
Label: Awakening Records
Category: Album
Country: China
Reviewed by Sparky
