Anachronaeon - The Futile Quest For Immortality

Anachronaeon are a melodic death metal band from Sweden composed of just two guys... TWO! One does vocals and guitar while the other does drums but it sounds like there's more people involved. The music is heavy, in the style of death metal but also very melodic, especially with the solos. The vocals are deep growls, but done almost like spoken grunts. Originally known as The Human Failure, the band has evolved and changed to fit the top of their game since 2003, which is marked by their latest album, The Futile Quest For Immortality. Thier quest for making a great melodic death metal album certainly has not been futile...

The album opens with "The Futile Quest" which is mid paced, partially due to the vocals, and brooding, creating an atmosphere similar to Amon Amarth: epic and crushing at the same time. The guitars are heavily distorted, but don't overtake the drums or vocals. Vocally, the album switches between spoken word grunts and a more melancholic clean singing that adds some gothic elements to Anachronaeon. Like many of the other tracks, the music is heavily focused on the guitar and the different melodies that can be created. Anachonaeon do their best to try and make each track varied while still retaining a sense of brutality. "Withered" showcases some great bass work- loud and thumping, and the drums are just in jackhammer mode. "The Message" has some lightning guitar works that drops into old school death metal territory in the vein of Death while still retaining a strong sense of melody.

"The Darkness In The Corner..." is very melodramatic and sounds a bit like doom metal as the spoken word passages are cleaner, morose, and mixed in with agonized roaring. The guitars also opt for more acoustic breaks instead of the usual chugging, which adds a whole new layer of beauty to the music. However, the slowest track on the album, "Grief Was Never Far Away..." changes the tone of Anachronaeon to depressive/ romantic death metal with the way the guitar melodies float around before tranding for the heavier stuff. It is purely instrumental and a good breather before the crushing "End" that lets Anachronaeon throw in their death metal punches for one last round, offering a whole array of aggressive guitar and drum melodies that would knock anyone flat on their back before leaving with a slow, melodic outro.

This is certainly worth checking out for fans of Amon Amarth or Augury. It's pretty nuts that only two guys can create music this well... lots of times duos are distorted, depressive doom metal bands. But, Anachronaeon are much better at making their music complex and more than meets the eye. The gothic elements are a nice touch and hopefully the future albums will be even more melodic.

  1. The Futile Quest
  2. Ages Ago
  3. The Beast Called Man
  4. Wither
  5. Towards Purity
  6. The Message
  7. The Darkness In The Corner Of My Eye
  8. Grief Was Never Far Away And I Invited Her To Stay
  9. End

Stygian Crypt Productions
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Aug 8, 2010

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