The Whole of the Law

Total fucking destruction

dB rating: 8/10

Release Date: October 28, 2016

Label: Metal Blade

If there’s any band better at summoning a maelstrom of chaotic evil than Anaal Nathrakh—actually, I wouldn’t really want to hear them. This demonic duo composes such a deadly symphony of whirling blades that anything crazier might literally kill the listener. While death by metal sounds pretty badass, I’m not quite ready yet.

It’s hard to believe Mick Kenney and Dave Hunt have been unleashing hell for nine albums now, but they return every two years or so to lay waste to the surrounding countryside—like locusts, but with amplifiers. The Whole of the Law shows they haven’t exactly mellowed with age. If anything, their voracious appetite has only grown; this may be their most devastating creation to date. Just picture: Satyricon on fast-forward; vocals that sound like Warrel Dane, Nocturno Culto and King Diamond trading lines; Gothenburg guitar solos; bursts of digital hardcore disruption; Author and Punisher face pounding; Agoraphobic Nosebleed hyperblasting; and Rob Zombie’s seamless use of samples. All thrown into a blender. Got that? You probably don’t, and that’s okay. The result comes out to something wholly unique. Comparisons only get you in the general arena.

With songs called “We Will Fucking Kill You” and “Hold Your Children Close and Pray for Oblivion”—along with bonus covers of Iron Maiden and the Specials (originally featured in Decibel’s own Flexi Series)—it’s clear that, while they certainly take their music-making seriously, Kenney and Hunt have learned to have fun. And that makes all the difference. If you’re going to try to murder your audience, may as well enjoy it, right?

— Jeff Treppel

This review taken from the December 2016 issue.





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