ANIMA’S THE DAILY GRIND; COMPETENTLY GOING WHERE MANY DEATHCORE MEN HAVE GONE BEFORE
Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 2:34pm by Christopher Roddy
I recently ran into a guy with whom I used to hang in High School back in the Eighties. We were both really into Metal and as the decade progressed our tastes kept leaning heavier. He got me into a little-known band that actually recorded under the name “Death” (”Dude! The album’s called “Scream Bloody Gore” – you’re going to LOVE this!) and I introduced him to a new act called Obituary that I believed would never be bested as far as heaviness and brutality were concerned (two decades later I still cling to that observation).
We got to talking about those halcyon days and, interestingly, he revealed that he doesn’t listen to Metal anymore. I couldn’t believe it. I almost choked on a swallow of beer when he mentioned it. He’s more into experimental and avant-garde rock now because, in his mind, Metal stagnated and hadn’t been at all exciting in the past decade and a half. He wanted the style to continue pushing the envelope and grow increasingly more adventurous yet, in his mind, that stopped happening before the mid-Nineties. All the acts from that point onward possessed a stale lack of originality that pretty much ended his love affair with all things dark and brutal.
Now, I disagree with him strongly and let him know as much. I kept throwing out band names at him (Emperor, Opeth, everything out of Gothenburg, Sweden…) but he’s over it. And a lot of that sentiment has to do with two things, I think. 1.) He was never really as into “Metal,” per se, as much as the extreme nature of something that was (at the time) fresh and new and 2.) there are new Metal bands coming out each week and it’s almost impossible to keep up with all of them. Beyond that, many of them are just cheap imitations
of great acts that have come before.
Which brings me to Anima. Deathcore is still a recent phenomenon which isn’t as played out as most any microgenre that includes “-core” in its title and these five young German lads ranging (raging?) in ages between 17 and 20 are playing with a ferocity that merits admiration even as it comes across as painfully derivative. There’s nothing here that really stands out but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to enjoy the collection. While there’s a sameness inherent in this band’s approach I actually enjoyed listening to The Daily Grind a number of times so I guess I can’t give it a decidedly negative review. Even so there’s nothing in these nine songs which merits actually seeking out the CD and it’s doubtful I’ll be pulling it out for a spin again any time soon. As such I suppose I can’t award it with any sort of recommendation.
Acts like Suicide Silence and the Red Chord as well as Whitechapel have been making a convincing case for the validity of Deathcore, though as I listen to much of this music I’m waiting for something other than the obligatory breakdowns to shake up the monotony. I realize that Hardcore isn’t given to flashy soloing but hearing some proficiency in instrumentation that goes beyond the drummer’s penchant for nimble blast beats might make things a little less static. Anima certainly prove themselves able musicians and the glossy production helps tremendously but what they really need is a little creativity in their approach that will enable them to stand out amongst a growing list of similar acts.
With a running time of just over a half hour each track passes by rather quickly and vocalist Robert Horn keeps things somewhat interesting with low, Death Metal growls and high, Black Metal screams. The riffing by Guitarists Steven Holl and Andre Steinmann is good if entirely predictable and their sound is a big black roar that completely drowns out the bass. Even so bassist Justin Schuler does manage to poke his instrument out briefly in the closing moments of “Sitting In The Wardrobe.”
I’m not going to use this album as a means of convincing my old friend to throw up the horns again, though I may include some Red Chord on the mix CD I will use to enlighten him and bring him back up to speed. Even so, The Daily Grind sounds good enough to include in a random mix with a variety of other bands, provided it doesn’t already have plenty of quality Deathcore. Anima would just get lost in the fray.
-CR
(Two and a half out of five horns)
Ugh… snorecore. The Red Chord is just about the only worthy band in my eyes, but I don’t really know what falls into deathcore. Seems like a bunch of hardcore kids flailing about when they learned they liked metal but didn’t want to do something new.
Suicide Silence, The Red Chord, and Whitechapel?! How dare you forget Animosity. In my eyes they’re better than any of those three. And please, start a trend by killing the trend of adding “-core” to any genre.
Please don’t compare The Red Chord to Whitechapel and Suicide Silence, The Red Chord actually write songs.
@ The Author (Christopher Roddy)
“…he revealed that he doesn’t listen to Metal anymore.”
There’s also Progressive Metal (Tool, Dream Theater, etc.) Progressive-Death (Meshuggah, Chastisement) Viking-ish Death (Amon Amarth, etc. – and yes I was a fan of theirs before virtually everyone else joined the band wagon) Power Metal (Blind Guardian, Nocturnal Rites, Rhapsody, Sonata Arctica, etc.) Black Metal (Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, etc.) and plenty of other genres/bands that haven’t ’stagnated’…Instead of suggesting Death-Core, Metal-Core and other crap (sorry, if you happen to like it) your friend ought to know about those other genres/bands (forgive me if he already does)…Hell, even old Goth-Metal has spun around a few times, and managed to impress me with something unpredictable every now and then.
…And those are just the more ‘popular’ bands of those sub-genres I’ve mentioned above.
Plus, there are plenty of (virtually unknown) foreign bands ought here (outside America) that don’t just stick with ‘tried-and-true’ techniques; rather always innovating in some minor fashion…At the same note, I too am a fan of “experimental and avant-garde rock” but I still stick with Metal and Baroque-Classical for good measure.
I wonder what bands your friend listens to? If they’re really ‘THAT GREAT’ (or even just slightly ‘cool’) then I wanna know which ones.
saying you were into amon amarth before people jumped on “the bandwagon” makes you look like an idiot. amon amarth have been one of the most popular bands in death metal since i don’t know, versus the world probably. just because that now manifests itself in metalsucks articles or promotional tie-ins for fuckin’ mead horns is as irrelevant as your esteemed elitist treatise. (say that 5 times fast)
this isn’t dragonforce or some mass media product we’re talking about here. so some wad saw a synchronized hairwhipping video of theirs on mtv2. that in no way make the band’s recent output less valid. if these youngsters want to get in on some bolt thrower (who?) inspired metallic glory, more power to them.
amon amarth is death metal’s worst kept secret, kinda like its glandular problems. somebody get the hose on that nile guy, for fuck’s sake.
@ Joe:
“amon amarth have been one of the most popular bands in death metal since i don’t know, versus the world probably.”
I’ve known them before that (I think “Death In Fire” must have been what raked most of the newer fans in). I think, around that time, most of the fans were into (Johan Liiva-fronted) Arch Enemy or something similar. By the way, have you noticed how similar Arch Enemy’s “We Will Rise” and Amon Amarth’s “Death In Fire” sounds/feels? It has slightly similar ‘feel’ to it – at least in my opinion.
“[...] (say that 5 times fast)”
Okay boss; I’m not sure whether you’re asking me to say “That, that, that, that, that” or whether your asking me to repeat the sentence before the brackets/parenthesis 5 times fast, in which case, I’ll do my best:
(1) just because that now manifests itself in metalsucks articles or promotional tie-ins for fuckin’ mead horns is as irrelevant as your esteemed elitist treatise. (2) just because that now manifests itself in metalsucks articles or promotional tie-ins for fuckin’ mead horns is as irrelevant as your esteemed elitist treatise. (3) just because that now manifests itself in metalsucks articles or promotional tie-ins for fuckin’ mead horns is as irrelevant as your esteemed elitist treatise. (4) just because that now manifests itself in metalsucks articles or promotional tie-ins for fuckin’ mead horns is as irrelevant as your esteemed elitist treatise. (5) just because that now manifests itself in metalsucks articles or promotional tie-ins for fuckin’ mead horns is as irrelevant as your esteemed elitist treatise.
…I did that to the best of my ability, and hopefully to your satisfaction.
“this isn’t dragonforce or some mass media product…”
Okay, now I’m REALLY confused: DragonForce is THAT popular/mainstream?! I suppose it’s where I live, where they’re not. I mean, they’re quite popular amongst shredder-soloist progressive/power-metallers all over the world, but to be on the bigger networks…Something of a surprise in my opinion.
As far as Bolt-Thrower is concern, yes I’m a fan of theirs as well – but I wouldn’t quite suggest that Amon Amarth is following in their footsteps. Maybe it’s just the production quality on Bolt Thrower records that differentiates them from Amon Amarth, but in my opinion they really don’t sound that similar at all. Bolt Thrower has more of a ‘quiet/controlled-aggression’ whereas Amon Amarth records have more ‘impact/presence-ish-ness’ to them.
“amon amarth is death metal’s worst kept secret…”
…Debatable, I suppose, but you might have a point…But I’m just throwing a ‘temper-tantrum’ right now because “I KNEW THEM FIRST!!!” I guess is my point. It’s silly, it needn’t be said, but it’s one of those things I have to get out of my system and so I wrote about that at another MetalSucks Post (http://www.metalsucks.net/?p=7607#comment-149029) and Vince Neilstein responded with something similar to what you said, but with more reassurance and less ‘ad hominem’.
By the way, I’ve posted an article about Jenna Jameson having twins. I poked around a little here and there (http://www.nemrosim.blogspot.com/2008/09/tito-and-jenna-are-having-twins-i-poke.html) but it’s kinda funny, half-laugh funny, but still please read it. It’ll make me feel better from and might stop me from throwing childish temper-tantrums if y’all post comments.
I think Anima deserves alot more respect than what’s given. For a band that hides in the shadows of Metal Blade, they’ve done well not to follow the crowd. Their style is really alot more complex when it comes to Whitechapel or any band with breakdowns every 30 seconds. It’s nice to see atleast one band not pushing themselves to play what everyone else might want to hear.