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Released on July 8, 2016 via Gilead Media / Avantgarde Music
I will always put U.S. black metal in high regard; year-on-year seasoned bands and up and comers release music that is true to the genre, but always gives it a new characteristics or a totally new texture. Krallice and Yellow Eyes, no strangers to the Gilead Media armada, are two of the finest examples of the bands developing the genre in the U.S.. Krallice drummer Lev Weinstein and Yellow Eyes live bassist Alexander DeMaria have joined founding members Owen Rundquist and Nolan Voss to produce Exegeses. With the album art and the members previous work taken into account, what Anicon forges could be pre-conceived to be the brand of atmospheric U.S. black metal we all know and love. However, these seven tracks display a technical performance rooted in fury and aggression, marking Anicon as a whole different beast.
Opener ‘Toil and Mockery’ and the crushing yet infectious ‘Mazzaroth’ highlight the level of intensity the band can achieve whilst keeping the tracks memorable. The former’s outset has a definite punk edge to the drum and guitar work, before plunging into the tremolo picking guitars and blast beats that are undeniably the result of Weinstein’s mastery. The latter is by far the most triumphantly melodic piece on the record; a heavy intro is balanced by the rhythmic instrumentation paired with the bellowed howls of Voss, before collapsing into a guitar lead toward the end of the track which is nothing short of hair raising. Anicon’s greatest skill set is laid bare very quickly within Exegeses; their ability to write pieces that not only harken to second wave black metal but also stay wholly contemporary among the U.S. black metal scene is highly admirable.
This is again emphasized by Anicon’s ability to hold such tight and technical instrumental performances whilst injecting gripping levels of anguish into the music. ‘Robed in Torments’ is led by rising guitar chords and the warm flurry of drum passages before slamming in and out of intense duals between the vocals and instrumentation. All the time, Colin Marston’s unmatched production creates an epic and ancient texture to the mix that complements black metal of this style so well, yet never sacrifices the overwhelming sorrow bleeding throughout each track. This is especially the case for ‘Hallucinating Fate’, a blazing track in the beginning due to distorted guitars layering up and cascading through the introduction, and later boiling down into a trudging guitar melody feeling as ever cold and isolated as black metal should be.
Voss and Rundquist’s guitar work is ultimately one of the greatest features of Anicon on this debut. Anyone familiar with the signature disorientation of Yellow Eyes’ riff work will adore the melodies and crushing rhythms they are able to create on this record, all the while switching the progression of guitar passages unexpectedly. ‘From Teeth, From Tongue’ is perhaps one of the most multi-faceted tracks because of this; the riffs are so intricate yet addictive and the guitars rolling rhythms are constantly plummeting and ascending with the thundering bass lines and torrent of drum beats. It’s essentially tracks like this that define how Exegeses manages to flow flawlessly and still contain 7 tracks that stand on their own as excellent pieces of black metal.
Fundamentally, Anicon have achieved a level of intensity and unyielding rage on Exegeses that in parts morphs into sheer beauty. Within black metal, especially the U.S. style, this is always something worth praise. I give much more than praise to Anicon however, Exegeses is an incredible record from the opener straight through to ‘In Shadow and Amber’, which ties the monolithic journey together. This is not only another addition to Gilead Media’s shining roster, but also a project that will undoubtedly make a name for itself in black metal’s ever-mutating state.
