Man, do these guys even need more attention? I remember just a few years ago when NOBODY outside of the UK had heard of the British duo of Sir Scream-A-Lot and Sir Fast-Play. But here we are, roughly eight years later and they're attached to Metal Blade Records and I saw more Anaal Nathrakh t-shirts at my last black metal show than any that were supporting a band that was actually there. Or is that a cultural norm that I'm only just now picking up on? Meh...
Anyhow, Anaal Nathrakh's eighth studio effort, Desideratum is a smooth and steady progression from 2012's Vanitas, complete with all of the bells and whistles you've come to expect from these British bastards. Up to and including; "how does he do that?" level screaming, "probably out of place the first time you heard it, but now it's grown on you" clean vocals, "Merlin enchanted your wrists and ankles with an endurance spell" drumming and "simply chaotic" string work.
On the newer side, there's a slightly heavier focus on some of the more electronic effects than in albums past. There is an occasional sample here and there ("What you call genocide, I call a days work." Deep Space 9 for the win!) and a little more "wub" than I'd really like to hear. But in all honesty, they make it work for them in a way I doubt that most other metal bands ever could without alienating their audience.
Other than that, there's no real innovation to speak of. I know that it's unfair to lay down an expectation of improvement on a band that consistently blows you away, but "blast beat, scream, riff, blast beat, scream, riff," ad nauseam to infinium can start to get stale to even the most dedicated of fans. Does that really hurt this album though? Not really. But it seemed unfair to not point that out.
Well, it seems that Anaal Nathrakh have built an asylum of sonic destruction, planted a garden, dug a shit ditch and rooted themselves in to stay, comfortable in their trademarked sound and unwilling to budge regardless of how much they make the neighborhood's windows rattle.
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