Anakronis - Regression

A few months back I got the chance to review an album by the band Super Massive Black Holes, thanks to their Bassist Denver Bergreen. Super Massive Black Holes brand of experimental metal was enjoyable and well played. More recently though Bergreen contacted me about another band he was in entitled Anakronis. While Super Massive Black Holes had elements of tech death infused into their sound, Anakronis is blazingly fast technical death metal through and through. Regression is an impressive EP on par with plenty of tech death greats out there right now.

One thing you’ll notice immediately is the inexorable drumming. It reminds me heavily of bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour Of Penance, with inspiration from plenty of grindcore bands. Insane speed mixed with incredibly precise rhythms. This relentless drumming does bring some issues at times though. The drums are so fast and loud that it can make it hard to focus on other elements of the songs, especially on your first listen through, and can drown out parts of the album. This problem isn’t uncommon though in tech death overall, plenty of people criticize Fleshgod’s drummer for being obnoxiously loud at times, but in general it’s not a problem that makes the album bad.

With repeated listens you’ll greatly appreciate the technicality in the guitars, both six strings and bass guitar. The lead guitar work is incredibly chaotic and all over the map, but in a way that complements the drums to make a fantastic wall of sound. The bass guitar reminds me a lot of Obsucra’s bassist. Partially because Obscura is one of a few bands I know in tech death that has constantly puts their bassist in the spotlight.  Anakronis has a similar understading of how well a bassist can improve your sound if utilized well, and tracks like ‘Radiance’ and ‘Enslave The Willing’ more than prove it.

There’s not a whole lot of atmosphere to be found on the album, mostly because it would be hard to pack that into the intense wall of sound the instruments are producing, but the third and final tracks (‘Thought Adjuster’ and ‘The Apex’ respectively) both end with dark otherworldly sounds that add a tad bit of atmosphere to the album and give you a small break to prepare for the next onslaught of sound. The sounds actually feel like they could be from the background music to an older science fiction movie.

The vocals on the album tend to fall in line with what you might expect from the genre, typically sticking with low growls and the occasional high scream for good effect. It’s nothing that will particularly wow you, but the vocals are well performed and complement the bands overall sound nicely.

Anakronis have put out one of the best EP’s I’ve heard thus far this year. Any tech death fan should find this album very enjoyable and fans of other extreme genres should give it a listen as well. The jaw  dropping speed and precision of each instrumentalist is beyond impressive and deserves the roughly twenty minutes it’ll take you to listen.