Search - Anorexia Nervosa :: Drudenhaus

Very good, but not quite great symphonic metal.

Xander Xavier Xymox | Frederick Co :( | 06/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a cross between black metal, and Gothic metal. Or as the band says "We are orchestral & symphonic metal art." Personally I think they can be best described as a Dimmu & Cradle hybrid. Although this cd doesn't quite reach the level of Cradle's, or Dimmu's best work it is still a very worthwhile cd in my opinion. Now considering that I have maybe hundreds of Cd's, and the majority are collecting dust. The fact that I actually listen to this cd often is a testament to its quality. I think AN has the potential to become a great band. Right now I consider them very good. All the songs here are good quality songs. The thing that keeps me from calling this great is that none of the songs reach the pinnacle of greatness that Cradle's "Funeral in Carpathia," or Dimmu's " Tormentor of Christian Soul's" reach. Some of the lyrics are taken from Aleister Crowley.



A Doleful Night In Thelema 8.5 Opens with thunderous double bass. Most of there songs have a good almost catchy chorus. At about 2 minutes in it changes to a more melodic pace. The guitar in this part is particularly noteworthy.



The Drudenhaus Anthem 8 This one opens with a frantic violin melody that quickly flows into a furious metal onslaught. At about 2:50 a very beautiful section with violin mixed with melodic guitar solo's appears, before the brutal metal resumes.



God Bless The Hustler 7.5 I like the layering of metal and melody. There are some clean french vocals that sound like the guy is dieing. There is nothing bad about this song it just doesn't stand out.



Enter The Church Of Fornication 9 Very haunting vampyric organ to open with. This is my favorite tied with the next song. The screaming chorus is addictive even though I have no idea what they are saying. I almost want to scream along with it, but than I would run the risk of being thrown into a sanitarium. Of course maybe that's where I belong.



Tragedia Dekadencia 9 As I said it is tied as being my favorite. Opens with a beautiful melancholy piano. Some of the best screaming on the cd is here. Although the whole song is really good I would say that the section of melody in the middle is one of the highlights.



Divine White Light Of A Cumming Decadence 8 One of the hardest songs here. It is almost heavy all the way through. Even though they are not the most technical I do love the riffs in this song.



Dirge & Requiem For My Sister Whore 8 This one is very similar in style to "Divine White Light Of A Cumming Decadence". Very horror music themed. There is also a really good solo on this song.



Das Ist Zum Erschiessen Schon 7.5 Pretty darn good song. Not the best, but not bad either. The melody is really good, but I think it is a little overused here.



The Red Archromance 8.5 This is my third favorite song here. A great blend of beauty and brutality.



If you are just starting to get into the whole dark symphonic metal scene I wouldn't recommend this as the first cd you should get, but I would recommend eventually picking this up.

On a side note I heard that there were two girls in France that simultaneously committed suicide by jumping out of a skyscraper and they left this cd playing when they did it. Of course the media started to blame this band as usual whenever there is a shocking crime or tragedy music always gets blamed.



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