Jobie Reviews Music 131: The Whole of the Law (album) by Anaal Nathrakh. Requested by F63.
- ChemicalSkylines
- May 15, 2021
- 2 min read
The Whole of the Law is a 2016 black metal album by the band Anaal Nathrakh. It is 13 tracks long, spanning 53 minutes and 16 seconds. This album is utterly insane, with every moment of its near hour run time being filled with fast-paced guitar melodies, intense vocals, and overall, aggressive black metal which only a band like Anaal Nathrakh can deliver. In the wake of its utterly insane sound, the album also finds time for some pretty nice riffs, along with clean vocals.
From the very first track all the way to the last, this album packs a hefty punch. Each second is a monstrous blitz of pure insanity, delivering fast-paced instrumentation nearly every second of its runtime. You certainly won’t be dozing off when this album starts playing!
To me, this album more or less serves as a precursor to Endarkenment, as much of the same sound Anaal Nathrakh would use on that album is present here. Of course, in Endarkenment Anaal Nathrakh built upon this album’s sound, but the similarities are still present nonetheless.
On top of all that, the album also has a few brief sections where industrial metal elements are used in its instrumentation. These elements work very well with the already thunderous instrumentation, adding a touch of variety to the insane sound that Anaal Nathrakh puts out on this album.
You’re probably tired of me saying this, but this album is truly insane in the best way possible. It’s certainly an improvement over the already insane Eschaton, which I honestly didn’t know was possible. Every album the band delivers is an exploration of pure fury and aggressiveness, which Anaal Nathrakh have been known for since the very beginning.
The two covers featured at the end of the album, “Powerslave” and “Man at C&A”, are nice little extras to top off this great album. I will say that “Powerslave” isn’t as good as other tracks on the album, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad track by any means. Anaal Nathrakh still deliver their familiar sound on these two tracks, making for some really high energy covers.
My favorite tracks from this album are “Hold Your Children Close and Pray for Oblivion”, “...So We Can Die Happy”, “In Flagrante Delicto”, and “The Great Spectator”.
Overall, The Whole of the Law is another great showcase of the aggressive, high-energy sound while Anaal Nathrakh has always been known for. With only 2 tracks that noticeably underperform (in comparison to other tracks), the album is a nice showcase of what makes Anaal Nathrakh Anaal Nathrakh.
Overall rating:
9.3/10
LINK TO ALBUM:
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