Review by Jason Guest

With a title etymologically derived from suffering and endurance (hence The Passion of the Christ), there could be no better choice of appellation to aptly indicate the intense caustic savagery contained within Birmingham’s finest Anaal Nathrakh sixth album in a decade, Passion. Drawing from black, grind, and all ferocious forms of extreme metal, Irrumator’s (aka Mick Kenney) instrumentation is first rate. His guitar work, from tremolo picking to colossal riffs, is fluid, the tone abrasive as the epic compositions move between light and shade. And, like a forlorn angel cast from the heavens to suffer perpetual torment, V.I.T.R.I.O.L.’s (aka Dave Hunt) maniacal vocals shift between disturbed shrieks of hate, rage and disgust, ominous howls, and a black operatic style that adds a painfully exquisite bleak edge. George Orwell bleakly described his vision of the future as “a boot stamping on a human face, forever.” And that is the only way to describe the incredibly dense texture of this record. Well composed, well produced, violent, vicious, apocalyptic and unremittingly engaging, Passion is the soundtrack to the apocalypse. To know that a band will release nothing less than the full, uncompromised realisation of their deepest musical and philosophical depth is always reassuring. The word ‘disappointing’ doesn’t feature in Anaal Nathrakh’s lexicon. And the successor to ‘In the Constellation of the Black Widow’ is pure passion in every sense of the word. Absolutely fucking essential!

Passion is released on 25th May through Candlelight

1. Volenti Non Fit Iniuria
2. Drug-Fucking Abomination
3. Post Traumatic Stress Euphoria
4. Le Diabolique Est L'ami Du Simple
5. Locus Of Damnation
6. Tod Huetet Uebel
7. Paragon Pariah
8. Who Thinks Of The Executioner
9. Ashes Screaming Silence
10. Portrait Of The Artist