Review: Anal Phobia – Unarm (Full Length) [2013]
Band: Anal Phobia
Album: Unarm
WARNING v2: You listen to this album at your own risk, upon doing so there is a high probability of literally being raped in the ass, as is the chance of getting injured to the point of dismemberment or worse. The band might come to your house and steal all your possessions and set your house on fire. Listening to this album might also cause a zombie apocalypse (and not with the slow-moving type either) that will surely mean the end of the world as we know it. If you are okay with all these potential risks feel free to condemn the entire world to an everlasting landscape of blackened skies and a barren wasteland while you headbang to some epic fucking music!
So what a pleasant surprise this turned out to be; the Unarm I reviewed earlier turned out to be just a promo for the real thing, and this full length version of Unarm got released in record time at that. If you checked out the promo version and like it you can stop reading here because the full length brings you nothing but more of that blissful and euphoric razor sharp brutality you experienced before, only there is more of it to go around, with even some new elements added to the formula. If you didn’t read my other review you just need to know that if you like death metal, hardcore, deathcore, blackened death metal or post-melodic experimental aggressive folk music that Unarm deserves your undivided attention.
You know you’re fucked when the intro track Gud Gris starts off with an evil/distorted voice followed by a Dragonball Z sample that precedes the traditional brown noise breakdown. Call in Silence is up next and it’s an excellent way to start the decimating onslaught of slamming death metal and crater blasting bass drops, get used to that because it will get even more heavier fast. My favorite song is by far Berluskøni and that remains the same for one simple reason: the breakdown at the end! I could just replay that part over and over, listen to it and you will know why; fast and heavy slams that push the instruments to their absolute limits with gang shouts in the background, that right there is the definition of brutal. However Anal Phobia has some new interesting tricks up its sleeve, the first of which can be heard on the shortest track (even shorter than the intro) Cumparty, it has some guest vocals and focuses mainly on the hardcore side of Unarm, expect to hear relentlessly fast instrumental pummeling and acid spitting vocal attacks. From this point on the album gets significantly different with each track; adding a fuckload of diversity to the brutal party. You get treated to completely different guitar tones in Soulless that proves Anal Phobia is not just some band that can spam breakdown after breakdown. The following Steampack Willie is simply pure fucking death metal with blast beats and the occasional upbeat melodic guitars that gives the listener a craving for more. Dark Throne delivers you more of that luckily, even more and faster blast beats await here; accompanied by some lovely bass slams and grooves, probably my favorite of the new songs because of the underlying evil atmosphere that gives the whole package an excellent finishing touch. The blast beats are not done yet though, with the album almost coming to a close all three legs of the drummer (or he is just fucking fast) start tearing up the pedals like mad and the guitars/vocals have a hard time keeping up but ultimately manage in giving you all the best aspects that Unarm has to offer; the creepy atmosphere, the fathomless breakdowns and the maniacal screams of anger all go in overdrive before tuning down a bit for the outro track. Nailed takes the stage and takes an extended bow with a superb instrumental effort that gives a surprising feeling of closure and a feeling of serene ambience, when was the last time an all-destroying metal band of this caliber did that and made it sound good? Well I would’t know either but I can’t say it’s a bad way to end such an epic album like this.
Anal Phobia has proven once again to be the best at what they do, like I said in my earlier review they should not be overlooked because you think this is just another lame second-rate album that makes noise because it can. Unarm is solid proof of the bands ability to make both brutal and diverse music, without sacrificing the core formula. The summer is still going strong and pretty much everywhere it’s fucking hot as shit, the perfect opportunity to download this FREE album from the Bandcamp link, burn that motherfucker on a cd and inject it into your audio system. When you drive by your local party hot spots with the windows down and blasting this baby I can guarantee you will make all the girls wet in their panties, not because of your pretty boy looks or your pimped out car but because of the orgasmic low tones reverberating from your speakers. If that doesn’t work they will just piss and/or shit themselves out of fear instead.
Rating: 10/10
For fans of: I Declare War, Acranius, Dissever the Tyrant, Defined by Fate
