Anthem - Anthem

I hate this album. It has given me the auditory equivalent of blue balls in needing the rest of Anthem's discography. With more oooohs, aaaahs, screaming, wailing and thumping than a seven day sex spree, Anthem's eponymous debut album is a must have for anyone who loves classic riffs, memorable guitar lines and the 80's style that made bands like Accept, Scorpions and Saxon so damn great at their peak. While not quite as savory as country-mates Loudness, Tokyo's Anthem are capable of inducing a trip to the chiropractor and a definite need for tylenol to take care of those sore arm muscles after having your fist raised to the sky for the duration of this album. The need to bang your head, try to sing along to the mostly Japanese lyrics and play air guitar while doing David Lee Roth styled jumps off your parent's furniture is reason enough to find a copy of this underrated gem and invite the local metalheads over for boozing.

Eizo Sakamoto's vocals are genuinely top notch. He's got range, attitude and a penchant for great catchy vocal ideas. Mixed within his traditional metal vocal onslaught are ballsy yet catchy engrish phrases that no self-respecting fan of metal could help but yell at top volume. Screaming lines like "Wild Anthem, Please Give Me Action" is both invigorating and necessary to help let out what I assume are repressed metal moments I never had due to a later-than-preferred birth date. Most important about Anthem's lyrics is that they are fucking fun! Trying to match Sakamoto's soaring voice while driving home from work makes me want to sew a replica of Ross The Boss' costume that he used in the "Gloves of Metal" video and run screaming down the street. Sakamoto balances his over the top metal vocals his excellent attitude, a bit of snarling might and catchy melodies with Anthem's powerful heavy songs.

Hiroya Fukuda's guitar playing is another stand out aspect of this album. Aside from having a classic tone. he also has a classic style. Much like Loudness' Akira Takasaki, it is easy to say that he has taken large influence from Eddie Van Halen. In the case of Anthem however, Fukuda is very likely influenced more by Takasaki himself considering how known Loudness were by the time Anthem's first album was released. Fukuda is not quite as "wild" as Takasaki on albums like Thunder In The East or Lightning Strikes though at times he shares a habitual use for screaming notes and insane note bending like ......Takasaki. His rhythm playing is spot on and he isn't afraid to add flourishes such as in "Warning, Action!" and "Shred," which appears as a bonus track on my copy along with "Steeler" and "Ready To Ride." "Steeler" and "Shred" are the better two though "Ready To Ride" shows a definite adoration for Manowar with a riff two thirds of the way stolen from the intro to "Fast Taker." Fukuda shines in his solos and rips through memorable leads continuously throughout the album. "Star Formation" has a particularly well composed solo though the solo in "Red Light Fever" is my personal favorite. "Lay Down" shows Fukuda experimenting a bit with an atmospheric prelude before an out of control solo in that track.

Naoto Shibata and Takamasa Ohuchi supply the powerful rhythm section on bass and drums (respectively). Though the album's focus is squarely on Sakamoto and Fukuda, it would be a drastic mistake to ignore the importance that these two play on making this disc work. Shibata is necessary to drive this album forward as his bass playing is always audible and fills in some of the albums thin production. At other times, such as in album highlight - highlight for me at least - "Warning, Action!" he plays a more lead bass role and really helps some fill riffs and bridges to pop. He also lays down a sweet bass solo amongst his walking bass lines in "Racing Rock" which would otherwise be a track of filler for me. Ohuchi is accurate, on time, and interesting. He doesn't do anything absurdly technical, never really astounds but is always playing and doing something. He plays a lot of fills and never in places they don't fit. I adore Ohuchi's drum tone, it reminds me of my days playing as a garage band.

This album also contains a verifiable strong lineup of songs. With strong songs like "Wild Anthem", "Warning, Action!", "Star Formation", "Red Light Fever", and "Blind City" there are tracks throughout "Anthem" that will surely grab your attention instantly if you can get around some of the Japanese vocals. The problem is that these strong tracks make weak tracks like "Turn Back To The Night" and "Rock N Roll Stars" stand out. Ashame too because "Turn Back To The Night" has the best production on the whole album. I say this because the guitar tone can at times sound a bit thin. Not a thin that would make you want to not listen but a thin in that the volume and mastering just didn't do much to bring those instruments up front a bit more. I also seemed to find spots where I got a strange volume fluctuation? If anyone else notices this it would be interesting to hear from you so I know that this isn't just a problem with my disc.

Check this out. It's is a great album and an unknown relic that is worth hearing for anyone into Loudness, classic heavy metal or Japanese Metal. It's an album that has made me a fan of Anthem not for the sweet riffs, excellent vocal melodies, gimmicky engrish, bass fills, old-school production job (where each song has a slightly different sound), or ripping solos but because its a damn fun album with memorable songs, fine musicianship and nostalgic feel. On to Tightrope!

Quickies #1

Quickies less of a review and more of spur of the moment thoughts.

Nightrage - Descent Into Chaos
Nightrage is a bunch of Greek guys playing a mix of In Flames circa Jester Race, At The Gates circa Slaughter of the Soul and what ever other melodeath bands you might want to throw in the mix. While I wouldn't say that this band is as worth your time as The Absence, anyone who is into the melodic death metal would enjoy this. I pick up trace elements of Carcass as well as Arch Enemy before they released their past few melodic nu-death albums. Burning Bridges and Stigmata turn up here as well. While I found most of the tracks boring and generic, the title track and Phantasma did leave me feeling warmly. In general, I enjoyed the lead sections more than any other part of the track though with Gus G and Marios Iliopoulos on the album, thats not surprising. Tomas Lindberg's (I mentioned At The Gates didn't I?) vocal attack on the album is sub par. I like his more maniacal and tortured vocals on Red In The Sky Is Ours and With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness. He gives none of that performance here.

Candlemass - The Black Heart Of Candlemass

This compendum of rarities is worth a listen for anyone trying to understand where the doom genre has come from, been to, and plans to go. Candlemass really embody almost all aspects of the genre and have from the very beginning. With the first disc containing old songs from the Pre-Candlemass era, you are giving a historic journey through what led to the classic Candlemass years with Messiah and Tomas. It would be difficult to imagine the Genre without the influence of albums like Nightfall and Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. With songs like Demon's Gate and Black Stone Wielder from the earliest periods of the life of such a legendary band, and practically unheard tracks from even earlier in mastermind Leif Edling's career as a doom warlock, this first disc is the real "metal and potatoes" of the release. Second disc contains more recent material covering the period all the way up to 1999 and the 13'th Sun era. This disc still gives interesting insight into where bands like Sahg got their influences from but it isn't as metal as disc one. Die hard fans of Candlemass and doom should pick this up if they can. It will surely tickle their black sacks.
Tristania - Widows Tour VHS
I will not be listening to any more Tristania, ever again.

The quality of the DVD is excellent, multiple cameras, a lot of good footage and an excellent sound quality. The sad thing that really gets me is that I know Tristania paid out their asses to produce the thing. As a band, they really are not at all worth all the attention they are giving themselves - the guitar work is uneventful and decisively bland. The songs are the same. The band as a whole is boring to watch as well - they try to hide this fact by incorporating some video footage for "Evenfall" but by this late in the video, I was already wavering in and out of sleep.

The one thing that I enjoyed was watching Vibeke Stene waver around and flap her cloak and make silly goth poses and dance moves. I had to laugh out loud at moments while she did her best "I am a spooky ghost searching for my soul" arm movements. Hilarious.

Don't watch this if you like yourself sane.

Iron Maiden - Powerslave
I've listened to this album since before I was in high school. Every single time I listen to it, the exact same things really hit me and though it could be a sense of nostalgia, I tend to think its really just because the album has legendary moments scattered throughout. 2 Minutes To Midnight's solo section screams classic metal, Back In The Village's chorus, supported by the lead that took me forever to hear still gives me shivers. Rime of the Ancient Mariner is hands down, the best of their longer songs. Perfect closing. Even the middle tracks, Flash of The Blade and The Duellists kick ass. I could still do without Losfer Worlds. I do find myself enjoying Powerslave (the song) more now than when I first got the album. This is one I should pick up on vinyl.

Black Sabbath - Headless Cross
Of all the "forgotten" Sabbath albums, this is the only one that I feel really stands up to their early work. Though the absence of Geezer and Bill will always knock it down a few notches. "Headless Cross" opens the album in classic Sabbath tradition with heavy riffs and a driving rhythm section. Tony Martin's vocals on the album are superb. Lyrically, the album is fantastic too. I've only noticed this recently though; neglecting the lyrics of basically all the stuff I listen to until the past year. I know, it's ashame too. "When Death Calls" is still my favorite track. Though "Devil and Daughter" definitely crept up into my blind-spot on the few listens I gave the album. It will pass into first place soon.

Mass Infection - Promo 2005

Although only seven minutes (and two songs) long, Mass Infection's 2005 Promo album still manages to have... well... mass. Playing a style of classic death metal influenced by the Tampa bands and the more twisted northern bands from New York and the surrounding tri-state area, the two songs show an attention to tormented song compositions and creative riff patterns reminding me of Ripping Corpse or some of the earlier Iniquity material less the bizarre grooves or the technicality that the latter spun on Serenadium.

The guitar tone of Giorgos and Nikos L. has a biting nostalgic tone to it somewhere between Grave and Mass Psychosis' Necroporno though without the signature sound of either. What is important though, is that it has a legitimate tone that neither sounds like some computer guitar modulation program or a direct input of some other sort from a pedal board into the processor. It is a one hundred percent old school death metal tone. With low, guttural vocals also supplied by Giorgos and a powerful rhythm section supplied by Kostas on bass and Nikos A. on drums, both also showcasing natural early 90's style and feel, Mass Infection have managed to plant two unknown gems of death metal in the earth for those of the Obituary and Suffocation persuasion to dig up.

"Decay" starts off with memorable riffs and an immediate urgency before launching into the twisted forms that carry the rest of the song. With a not overly technical, not overly underplayed, suitable but not predictable solo promoting Nikos' and Giorgos' ability to produce soulful leads. "Eternal Oblivion" is similar to opener "Decay" though slightly speedier. It launches into a sickeningly perverted child's nursery kind of death metal riff that gets my vote for riff of the release (ROTR). Once again, Mass Infection create subtle lead melodies without becoming melodic and continue to blast out quality death metal.

Both songs are strong, well composed tracks with the ability to shake up a room full of death metal fans and stir up a circle pit in a dingy club but with only two songs, I am left a bit unsatisfied. Two more songs in this style with some slight tempo variation and maybe some signs of experimentation could make this one of the strongest death metal demos I've ever heard. With two songs showing so much promise, Mass Infection is a band that I will definitely keep an eye on. Look for a review of their Atonement For Iniquity album in the future. If it contains a similar style as this demo, Mass Infection are well on their way to being one of my favorite obscure-as-cloudy-toilet-water death metal bands.

Coffin - Coffin EP

Trenton, New Jersey's Coffin are stuck somewhere between modern Overkill and Demonic / Low era Testament's grooviness and barely manage to inject enough subtle thrash moments into their mosh stirring brand of metal. Vocally, Rich McCoy (AKA Morgue) touches down squarely between Rob Dukes and John Tardy. Then add flickers of Ron Royce without the snarl or general nihilistic aggression; decent vokills but nothing superior. Adequate for the music. While there are strong riffs across the five songs offered, they are typical, 'heard it before and heard it better' riffs. You can grasp an accurate picture of everything available here for the taking by listening to any one song on the EP. If you are into Coffin's style of groove oriented thrash, this will surely moisten your loinal region.

A strong production sports a particularly spectacular bass tone which, myself being a bass player, carries these otherwise mediocre songs a bit. The drumming on the album is sporadically tedious. At first, I thought it to be very nice sounding, with distinguishable toms and a low, thumping kick drum, but after listening through the EP two or three times, the snare drum began to irk me to no end. It has one of those "tupperware" tones. I do appreciate the natural sound of the the kit though. I can actually sit and pick out varying differences in each percussive note - a hard thing to find in music today. Featuring the talents of guitarists Roehr and Immolith (Greg Byrne), the playing on the album is nothing to drool over technically speaking however the rhythms are tight, and well performed. While the vast majority of listeners will find the guitar tone thick, crunchy and generally grizzly-like I consider it more like a fuzzy teddy bear. On low volume levels, I think it sounds scratchy and thin while on loud, obnoxious levels better reserved for Manowar, it sounds much better. Neither of the five songs really deserve such levels of volume however, rendering this reasoning somewhat invalid.

"Altar In Black" is a strong opener with enjoyable riffs and an infectious level of headbangability (HBA). Sweet solo near the end following some memorable rhythmic moments. With the following four songs all following in similar fashion and taking a conservative route in areas of songwriting, rhythmic architecture and melody usage, the EP loses steam (and HBA), exponentially decreasing in attractiveness. It's basically a reverse beer goggle syndrome; only with ears. Listen to any of these songs alone, and there really is not a whole lot of criticism but put all five together and the weaknesses are noticeable. Each song tries to hold its own but just doesn't. "Before The Cross" has an interesting drum section and "Forsaken Angel" has a chorus that might be fun to shout along with while drunk on whatever is trendy these days but little makes me interested in returning for an elongated residence.

THIS IS A
NJ BAND

Bosque / Senthil - Under The Capricorn Sky / Premeditation

I have this attitude towards split albums in which I almost always feel that they are neither a good representation of the bands, don't comprise a real strong overall concept or have one band completely overtake the other in a hail of bullets and fire. In the case of Bosque and Senthil's split, out on Pale Horse Records, my bias towards the split album / ep format and the reasons supporting my bias are crushed, chopped up and eaten. Not only does this split show both Bosque and Senthil doing what they do well. Neither band totally decimates the other in quality (though I personally like the doomier, more blackened and melancholy Bosque tracks) and instead, both bands compliment each other's material nicely. The split showcases two bands with their own particular style of blackened funeral doom noise but in a setting that allows them to blend and work conceptually together.

This split is one of the few I have heard that comes across having a particular encompassing feel throughout both sides of the release. So while images of graves, empty mausoleums, vacated torture chambers and vast empty skies will generally haunt you, there is an overall crushing weight of anticipation that has found a place to linger in this release. It swells and emanates from the Bosque tracks and is rewarded in the chaos of the Senthil hymns.

The Bosque side of the split, "Under The Capricorn Sky," renders watching the heaven's collapsing down onto them, but watching the event through the eyes of a single depressed soul, euphorically waiting for the demise of all life. The slow, plodding of the tracks, particularly "Part II," lets you enjoy every moment of the fall of mankind. Brisk sweeping melodies occasionally appear, like desolate winds, drifting across the music. The harmoniousme imaging a populace "Part III" is the culmination of the disastrous events in similar form as watching an avalanche close in on you. The tumbling tones of all the Bosque tracks are unique and something worth losing yourself in. While most of the vocals are of a screeched, insane variety, similar to Countess, there are moaning chanting moments as well which give the tracks a ritualistic feel to them. The Bosque tracks end with an anticipatory section drifting off in subdued melody, wandering into the long dark night, allowing the lights to close in.

If "Under The Capricorn Sky" is the disastrous event, Senthil's "Premeditation" is the aftermath of suffering. Once again, this theme of anticipation is prevalent. Premeditation's "Part I" is much like walking through a kennel run by animals yet holding humans in cages. The myriad voices and rich textures envelope the senses. Much more noise shines through on this side of the split; high pitched squeals, obscure distant clanking, drugged out psychotic barking. Through much of the first track, a throbbing droning tone is prevalent, at once giving way to bizarre horn fellatio which, to my ears, vaguely plays broken parts of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (mainly "Introduction"). The psychotic barks, voices and disgruntled pleas resume after brief respite once more ejaculated to simple percussion choices. "Part I" ends with a vomit orchestra playing incorrectly tuned tubas and flutes. Imagine that if you can. If you can't find yourself a copy. "Part II" builds nicely for the first several minutes, at times even bordering on beautiful and serene, an absolute juxtaposition to the first part of Senthil's contribution. This spark of solemnity degenerates into more vocal insanity. At times I wanted to laugh at some of the vocal moments though I couldn't bring myself to such release, as I immediately imagined living next to some guy in his basement tracking all these vocal takes. It scared me slightly to imagine myself hearing these noises trying to sleep.

Though both sides of the split offer different experiences, they seem to be part of a single, two part tribulation. Though for me, Senthil's side of the split is a bit too random and chopped up, it deserves a place in any Silencer fan's collection if their tastes vary between the black metal and the funeral doom. The wails and general vocal experimentation would surely capture the ears of fans this side of the spectrum. Myself being less a fan of vocals and more a fan of music, found the two Senthil tracks to be less intriguing than the Bosque side of the split which seemed much more composed and thought out. Though I enjoyed "Part II" of the Senthil tracks for the wonderful building arch of sound smashed together, the degeneration into more vocal bewilderment turned me off at times. The production throughout this spit was adequate and allowed the bands to capture their music without giving up much in return. I would have loved to hear the Bosque tracks with a slightly better production given their general excellent composition and melodic intertwining. I can't say that the production was a detriment however and in hindsight, had the Bosque tracks had a better production, "Under The Capricorn Sky" would have greatly overshadowed Senthil's "Premeditation, leading to an out of balance release.

Get This:
Pale Horse Records

Immolith - Sojourn Demo

With only two songs, Sojourn, the rehearsal demo from New Jersey's Immolith leaves me wanting much more. But calling this a pure rehearsal demo is, well, somewhat confusing because I don't believe this is a "Rehearsal" demo at all. Sure, the production does sound like a rehearsal - the drums are raw, with a natural feel, triggerless and very blackened, the guitars are muffled and laden in fuzz and doom, but using the H2 Hand held recorder, it would be very difficult to record the vocals on this recording. In first track, you can hear, very clearly on headphones, that the vocals alternate between left and right hard pans, as if going around your head in symmetrical sweeps. With vocals most likely being sourced into a PA of some sort and being played through stationary speakers, this panning ability would have to be produced in some sort of either post production phase or with calculated takes using the H2 panning features. Also, with Immolith (guitars / vocals), Warhead (drums, also in stalwart black metallers Abazagorath), and Ahazu (bass) playing the songs, I would wager that unless either one of them is an octopus cross bred human-squid creature, pressing the buttons on the actual recording device would be nigh impossible. Maybe they had someone at the rehearsal also turning the microphone however with no noticeable changes in the dynamics of the drums or guitar, I wouldn't count on that either. Either way, I wouldn't call this a true rehearsal recording and more likely some combination of the two.

With that out of the way, I have to admit that I like the direction the band is taking with the one original track presented. A mixture of Venom, Bathory and, to my ears a fair bit of Candlemass as well - in the slower sections - "Ghost Tower of Inverness" presents memorable melodies, interesting ideas and showcases a true devotion to playing black metal in the style of the originators and not in the style of today's crop of super fast, psuedo-evil black metal upstarts. Though this opening track is a rather simple brooding, chest thumping dirge-like soaker, the lack of that necessary "brick" of heaviness that a mid tempo song needs to really crush,holds it down just slightly. A more distorted bass or overdubbed vocals would add some mass to the recording but this is still an enjoyable track. If you want to enjoy it you will, if you're not paying much attention and it is playing in the background it will most likely pass you by unnoticed. Second track is a cover of Venom's Countess Bathory which, while holding its own in a pillow fight with the myriad modern punk bands, would be crushed under the weight of the original. Still enjoyable and still one of the better Venom covers I have heard simply because Immolith is naturally playing the same style.

With a four song EP in the works for the summer, this is a band to keep an eye on, especially if they could lose some of the stereotypical modern black metal elements and retain the Venom and Doom influenced sound that really grabs my attention.

THIS IS A
NJ BAND

Nyctophobia - Beyond The Pillars

The heartbeat of Nyctophobia's Beyond The Pillars is the kind of barely-there lifelessness that I find so enjoyable in funeral doom. This lifelessness is also, more times than not, the draining factor that makes me press my fingers into the skin on my face, in an attempt to tear my eyeballs out. Nyctophobia's night-lord, Deimos however has managed to take the lifelessness, combine it with a feeling that the music he is making is meant to sound dead, and then still leave you clawing at your skin, trying to rid yourself of all the happiness you may have felt prior to turning out the lights and loosing yourself in the recesses created by such dense and dark doom. The atmosphere of the demo is both relaxing and pallid all at the same time. The deep, low, gnarled vomiting vocals will compel even the sturdiest doom fans to wash out their throats with antiseptic fluids. It also is fluidly smooth and patient, changing on it's own time. In this sense, it could be a useful learning tool for children suffering from attention deficit disorder. If anything will make them sit still, it is this tape.

The three song, 31 minute descent is enjoyable (in the most negative, depressing way) from start to suicide, often times drifting freely between subtle melody and a crushing rhythmic pounding. The slow churn is like being caught forever in an endless sea of black slime, too dense for you to sink, and not dense enough to let you float, leaving the listener constantly grasping for another breath. First track, "Forgotten Emperor," swirls in a manner akin to an oil slick, at times injecting color into the mix with slightly depressed melodic flourishes - possibly the sound of dying marine life - and the rest of the time allowing the inky darkness to spread before twisting into the frightening composition that is "And They Gathered," my favorite track on the tape. Somehow, this is the calmest and most dangerous track on the tape. Halfway through, massive ancient mechanized sounds appear that, to be honest, scared the excrement from my cramped bowels while listening through for the first time in my auditory sampling chamber (car). These tolls could be compared to smashing two metal bones together in a cave deep underground in the middle of Lovecraft's worst nightmare. Final track "War" combines Deimos' expertise with compelling sadistic melodies and pulsing simple, yet interesting percussion compositions. The drumming in this track is the best of the demo and the melancholy melody provided to assist the beating makes this the most edible morsel for most listeners not familiar with funeral doom. Nowhere near as acceptable as anything from Clock's album (Haven't heard it have you?) but nothing that would make the majority of the population run in terror.

The melodic additions to the tracks and experimentations in sound is what separates this UK based doom project from other notable British doom outfits such as Moss, who have a similar funeral doom foundation though revel more in the crushing weight, than the endless abyss. With this cassette costing only three dollars from Pale Horse Records, ignoring it would be a true shame for anyone who likes to be scared and/or depressed by spaced out music. Nyctophobia's pulsing demo hopefully will be only the first in a handful of interesting sonic adventures Deimos will supply us with. He is truly capable of transporting us into the emotional crevices of depressed minds.

Anticosm - Alcoholic Darkness Demo

I can't help but feel that Anticosm are three, maybe four, different bands all battling for creative supremacy. Do Anticosm want to be a death metal band or a black metal band? Maybe a thrash band with some NWOBHM tendencies? The reality is this: they are metal band with the look and aesthetic of a Norwegian black metal band and have chosen this look before discovering whether this is the type of music they want to play. I can say this with having seen them live. They wear corpse paint, bellow to the audience in a scratchy, hoarse throated way between songs, and generally exude the stereotypical black metal qualifiers. Off stage though? I would wager that vocalist Graveless Carcass has a room full of his favorite Yankee Candles: Midsummer's Night, Sparkling Snow, and Root Beer Float all placed in the center of his plastic, Spencer's Ouija board. To be honest, Anticosm's stage show is decent, if I remember correctly. They certainly look like a veteran black metal band.

Musically speaking however, they come across as far from veteran. The general flow and musicianship on Alcoholic Darkness is proof of this and actually makes Alcoholic Darkness an appropriately titled demo for the band only because the music sounds like it was played after a few too many pints. The awkward transitions in opening track Skinless fit like a square block in a circular hole. The ability of Magnus and DemoGorgon is that of a stubborn elderly woman who thinks she still has the agility of her youth. In Magnus and DemoGorgon's case, they think they have the agility to pull off guitar acrobatics but they lose their balance sometimes and maybe fall over into their flower garden like the lady across the street. Magnus occasionally does rip into a worthy section but at other times I have to hang my head and wonder (You're Dead being a good example). Basically, they come across as the leaders of the high school garage band that everyone knows about. Bass and drums are generally in the same league as the guitars and plod along, flanking the main force but succumbing to light enemy fire.

The Demo does have moments of interesting ideas, presenting the ticking minds of creative individuals still learning their craft. The vocal duel at the end of Skinless is a great example of the band's general attempt to incorporate new ideas into what would otherwise be a stagnant formula. The band also excels at varying between riffs and simpler, melody driven sections. They fall short in the choice of melodies though, as the chord progressions occasionally veer away from the vibe of the song. The use of subtle symphonics in Sneg Sibirskiy is also done well. This is by far the best track on the demo with opener Skinless falling a few yards behind. The inclusion of acoustic guitars shows signs of compositional awareness however in the case of this demo, bad tone is their companion.

As a general rule, I simply don't find much about this demo that energizing, especially for the style these guys play. The songs aren't very memorable to my ears and I don't find myself becoming interested in the songs. I want nothing more for there to be one song which I would maybe play again but there just isn't. The best forty seconds of the demo is the first forty seconds of demo and then it seems to fall apart sloppily. The whole thing sounds amateur and unimportant. I like demos that really sound like they are more than mere demos; that sound like I am privy to some hidden ritual or obscure lost knowledge. This doesn't sound like that. It sounds like a few friends with cheap recording equipment who don't really know how to capture themselves properly. The production is also thin, especially in the lead guitar tone, and suffers from "demo plague" - a general feeling that the demo was recorded while the members were ill during recording. The sub-par musicianship doesn't help much either.

Sorry Anticosm, but you're going to have to do better than this.

THIS IS A
NJ BAND