Anaal Nathrakh are a British

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tra ...

band formed in 1999 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

by multi-instrumentalist Mick Kenney and vocalist Dave Hunt. They are currently signed to

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distr ...

. The band's name is Irish for ''snake's breath'' ( anál nathrach) and was taken from

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

's Charm of Making in

John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, best known for feature films such as ''Point Blank (1967 film), Point Blank'' (1967), ''Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), ''Zardoz'' (1974), ''Exorcist I ...

's 1981 film ''

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in t ...

''. The band recorded two demos in 1999, which were later released as an album. The band has released eleven studio albums, one EP, and one compilation album. The band has been praised for mixing elements of

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw ( lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an em ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, fe ...

, industrial, and other genres.

History

The band took their founding cues from Norwegian black metal bands such as Mayhem,

Burzum Burzum (; ) was a Norwegian music project founded by Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a part of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most influential acts in black m ...

, and

Darkthrone Darkthrone is a Norwegian extreme metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leading ba ...

. The duo recorded two demos before delivering their first full album, '' The Codex Necro'', in 2001, that, according to '' The A.V. Club'', "set a standard of blackened death that still hasn’t been equaled". In 2004, Anaal Nathrakh released their second full-length album, '' Domine Non Es Dignus'', on the French label

Season of Mist Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pag ...

. In 2006, the group's third album, '' Eschaton'' (commonly referred to as the " end of the world" or " end times"), was released. The album featured guest appearances by Shane Embury of

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...

and Attila Csihar of Mayhem. The album ''

Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Here ''Hell Is Empty, and All the Devils Are Here'' is the fourth album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh, released on 29 October 2007 by FETO Records. The album title is a quote from the first act of William Shakespeare's '' The Tempest'' ...

'' was released through the band's new record label, FETO Records, in October 2007. The album features guest appearances from Joe Horvath of Circle of Dead Children. In 2009, Anaal Nathrakh announced that they signed to record label

Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is a British record label based in England and founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black met ...

for their release of ''

In the Constellation of the Black Widow ''In the Constellation of the Black Widow'' is the fifth studio album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh, released on 29 June 2009 by Candlelight Records. The album was also released on LP, limited to 500 copies. 250 copies are pressed ...

''. Commenting on the signing, V.I.T.R.I.O.L. stated, "Candlelight have shown a strong belief in Anaal Nathrakh and looking at some of the acts on their roster both past and present it seems they are capable of backing up their good intentions. With their help we hope we can finally get the planet cracked in half", and "''Constellation'' will be faster, more insidious, more ominous, more musically dexterous and wilder than ever before. The album will feature a curve ball guest appearance from Zeitgeist Memento of Mexican extremists Repvblika." Anaal Nathrakh released their sixth full-length album, '' Passion'', in 2011, and their seventh, '' Vanitas'', in 2012. The band finished recording for their eighth full-length album, ''

Desideratum "Desiderata" is an early 1920s poem by Max Ehrmann. Desiderata or Desideratum may also refer to: Books * ''The Desideratum; or, Electricity Made Plain and Useful'', a book by John Wesley * Desiderata Hollow, a fictional character in '' Witches Ab ...

'', in February 2014, and released the album on 28 October 2014. ''

'' was the band's first album release since signing to

in June of the same year. The band's ninth album, '' The Whole of the Law'', was released on 28 October 2016. On 20 May 2018, it was revealed that they were going to release their tenth studio album, titled '' A New Kind of Horror''. The album was released on 28 September 2018. In early 2020, the band recorded their eleventh album, ''Endarkenment''. The album was released on 2 October 2020. ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' named it as the 31st best metal album of 2020.

Musical style

Critics have said that the band fuses elements of

symphonic black metal Symphonic black metal is a subgenre of black metal that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. Notable symphonic black metal bands include Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, and Carach Angren. History ...

, and industrial. They are mostly described as

, industrial death metal,

industrial black metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine I ...

, grindcore, and

blackened death metal Blackened death metal (also known as black death metal) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that fuses elements of black metal and death metal. The genre emerged in early 1990s when black metal bands began incorporating elements of death met ...

Band members

Current members

* Mick Kenney (Irrumator) –

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These m ...

, programming (1999–present) * Dave Hunt (V.I.T.R.I.O.L. isita Interiora Terræ Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

(1999–present)

Additional live members

* Anil Carrier (Binah, No More Room in Hell, Towers of Flesh, Pernicion, The Solemn Curse) – drums (2016–present) * Drunk (Duncan Wilkins) – bass, backing vocals (2011–present) * Danilho Rosé (Dan Rose) – guitar (2011–present)

Past members

* Leicia – bass (1999–2000)

Past live members

* St. Evil (Steve Powell) – drums (2006–2016) * Nicholas Barker – drums (2004) * Shane Embury – bass (2004–2005) * Danny Herrera – drums (2005) * Misery (Paul Kenney) – bass (2006–2010) * Ventnor – guitar (2005–2010) * G Rash (James Walford) – guitar (2011–2017)

Discography

Studio albums

* '' The Codex Necro'' (2001) * '' Domine Non Es Dignus'' (2004) * '' Eschaton'' (2006) * ''

Hell Is Empty, and All the Devils Are Here ''Hell Is Empty, and All the Devils Are Here'' is the fourth album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh, released on 29 October 2007 by FETO Records. The album title is a quote from the first act of William Shakespeare's '' The Tempest' ...

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2009) * '' Passion'' (2011) * '' Vanitas'' (2012) * ''

'' (2014) * '' The Whole of the Law'' (2016) * '' A New Kind of Horror'' (2018) * ''

Endarkenment ''Endarkenment'' is the eleventh studio album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh. The album was released on 2 October 2020, through Metal Blade Records. Two singles were released from the album: "Endarkenment" and "The Age of Starlight ...

'' (2020)

EPs

* '' When Fire Rains Down from the Sky, Mankind Will Reap as It Has Sown'' (2003)

Compilation albums

* '' Total Fucking Necro'' (2002)

Demos

*''Anaal Nathrakh'' (1999) *''Total Fucking Necro'' (1999)

Notes

References

External links

Official MySpace

Official merchandise
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anaal Nathrakh English black metal musical groups Blackened death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1999 Earache Records artists Heavy metal duos English musical duos British industrial music groups English death metal musical groups English grindcore musical groups Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands Candlelight Records artists Season of Mist artists Metal Blade Records artists British industrial metal musical groups 1999 establishments in England