Last year's 'VII Dogmata of Mercy' was my first contact with Polish band called Cryptic Tales. Its synth-infested black metal doesn't suit for my ears, so the band thought that they'd send me their 1993 debut album 'Anathema'. Or rather the reissue of it, that was released in 2009, the first time on CD, by Redrum666.

To me it didn't come as a surprise, that 'Anathema' is a doomy death metal affair. Hey, that has happened with quite many bands, eh?! I mean the transition from doomy death style to a different musical sphere. Anyways, 'Anathema' stinks of old Swedish and Finnish death metal. It carries an
ominous atmosphere, which has been amplified with the use of contrabass, classical guitar and some keyboard stuff. Also, the sound is very airy, echoing yet rumbling. Especially the low-tuned guitars and the drums assail a listener with big rumble. It reads on the cover that this is remastered, but actually this sounds primeval. Still, the music sounds right just this way. The vocals are echoing, low throat growl, quite similar to Martin van Drunen's. The lyrics are about mankind's end (wars, pollution, Great Old Ones), a person's death and organized religions' madness.

Heavy low-tuned death metal carnage, doomy cranks, forbidding atmosphere, some dismal contrabass, acoustic guitar and keyboard parts... That's what the opener is made of, and it pretty much stays in that mould throughout the album, except sometimes it's just metal and no extras. The band were able to mix all those elements into characteristic chunks, even though metal parts are usually very familiar. Even though the acoustic bits are detached pieces in the songs, the entities work with all the different parts, meaning as compositions and with all the various musical elements present in them.

Some multimedia extra can be found on the disc: Cryptic Tales' pictures (the band, original covers etc.) from the 'Anathema' era and promotional mp3 tracks from labels Redrum666 (death metal) and Fallen Angel (black metal). Anyways, 'Anathema' itself is an interesting release. If you are yearning for old school death metal and especially ghastly style, I recommend you give 'Anathema' a try. Putrid enough piece of history.

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
01/05/2010 12:48