See, I know these copy + paste slam death bands can make something extremely worthwile, and this is my proof.

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With many extreme metal bands, it ends up being pretty hit or miss for me. One band, I'll hear a song from, and I'll think: "this is the biggest piece of hot edgelord garbage I've ever heard!", then I'll listen to another example and think "Holy shit I just witnessed God!" Extreme metal is a very curious case for me, since a lot of my favorite projects come from it, and this includes the great Anaal Nathrakh from Birmingham, UK. ... read more

I'd say this is pretty solid as far as modern era death metal goes. It kind of follows the formula of a lot of bands I've heard, but they're still fun in a way I guess. Listen to "Dead as Shit" and the title track for a pretty goated death metal contender, and listen to the rest of the album if you're actually a death metal glazer.

The album with very minimal bass, but honestly I don't think it really even needed to do with it. To end off a quadrilogy of thrash metal albums that would completely define the genre as a whole, "...And Justice For All" is an appropriate closer to their peak thrash days. Some of their best songs, yes, are on this record, such as "Blackened", "One", and "Eye of the Beholder". Also including the great instrumental of "To Live Is to Die", ... read more

A lot of albums are timeless but I think this album completely defies time and space as we know it. It's like an unexplainable entity that's just... There. The album has an unexplainable presence not just in the Swans discography but in music as a whole. I almost feel like it doesn't exist. And that, my AOTY-ers, is the perfect way to describe this album, as Gira described this himself as the soundtrack to a non-existent movie. I really couldn't have put it into better ... read more

This is some of the most solid death metal I've heard from 2005. First of all, the riffs are absolutely brutal. I mean, if you wanted an album that just gave you nasty death metal riffage, this is definitely the album to consider. Not only that, it is mixed ruthlessly.

Swans is a weird band. A really weird one. Let's take a look: They start with this sludgy, unforgiving, relentless debut called "Filth", then dive into more experimental and... Gothic(?) territory with "Children of God", get a major label drop called "The Burning World" (which failed), went back to the weird Gothic Rock stuff, then drop "Soundtracks For The Blind" for... Some reason... Then come back with another album in 2010 without Jarboe... Then ... read more

Actually one of the greatest covers ever conceived oh my god

[Upon my first listen] I struggle to really find the appeal of this album. I got it recommended to me, and first of all, the album cover just doesn't look too good (which I won't count as an objective point), second of all the songs just don't cut it for being that short, and three, it's just not my thing. Whenever they do actually extend the song lengths, it does work surprisingly well, especially "I Am Nietzsche", which is surprisingly effective. I also like the ... read more

Pretty good EP. If you liked The Codex Necro, you'll probably like this. It is a pretty strong follow up of that same sound.

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Another one of the Anaal Nathrakh albums on the weaker side, and also my least favorite. While I do think it has good moments (it has "Forward!" on it), it just kind of sounds like... What they usually do? I don't know how to explain it. It's too usual and predictable for me to enjoy it compared to other albums of theirs. "The Reek of Fear" is a song that perfectly embodies this. Just overall a pretty bland album if I say so.

Not everything on this ... read more

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Here's one of two Anaal Nathrakh albums that I think are kind of weak compared to their other output. On this album, most choruses/hooks are weaker, and most of the album isn't that memorable to me (yeah, even Idol). I guess it's still consistent, and I do like "Unleash" and the opening instrumental quite a lot. Compared to whatever they dropped in 2016 though? Mind you the five album run that they went through earlier? Yeah I dunno.

Good? Sure, but not ... read more

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Now I guess this would be standard for Anaal Nathrakh, but bro, if this is standard, then this band probably would just be good at their worst. "Vanitas", despite releasing only a year and a few months after "Passion" from 2011, is one of the band's most consistent releases. Is it as good as "In The Constellation..." or "Hell Is Empty..." or even "Eschaton"? No, but Vanitas has some very great songs on it nonetheless. On top of ... read more

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"Passion" is an interesting release because it pretty much takes their sound to a whole new level with experimentation, and overall the album just has this unique identity even if it isn't my absolute favorite. It's got "Drug-Fucking Abomination", which is their longest song to date, and then there's "Locus of Damnation", which is vice versa, their shortest song to date. Carrying forward are ideas from "In The Constellation..." ... read more

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Holy shit.

Anaal Nathrakh's third studio album, "Eschaton", takes the band in a slightly refreshing direction, and I say this because not only do the harsher, heavier moments hit harder than anything from "Domine Non Es Dignus", but the melodic choruses hit higher highs. It was an idea that they had on their second album, but now the melodies are at full force on their third release. Also, the production is easily harsher, almost shining back to the days of ... read more

The chorus makes me grow balls of steel. Holy hell I love this band.

I remember back in whenever I used to either listen to the most basic, serviceable radio rock (Five Finger Death Punch for example), and, at the same time, listen to the most insane extreme metal imaginable (Strapping Young Lad for example). I hear this song combining elements of both of those in a way; it's composed like usual Anaal Nathrakh (black metal + grindcore, and insane vocals) but it has this verse chorus ... read more

The Great Custer Depression, Episode 11:

"private music" by Deftones (08-22-2025)

I very much respect Deftones for having at least the decency to change their stuff up with every album, but with something like "Ohms" being quite a lackluster album compared to something like "Koi No Yokan" (you could bring up Gore but I actually liked that record a lot), it was kind of difficult to think that this would be a top 3 contender in terms of Deftones albums. However my ... read more

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Custer Vs. AOTY, Episode 1

Domine Non Es Dignus by Anaal Nathrakh (11-02-2004)

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot, stamping on a human face, forever." - George Orwell

For their second album, Anaal Nathrakh experiments with friendlier production and melodic, clean vocals. In my opinion, clean vocals and a more clear emphasis on melody was definitely the better way to go, and it's definitely still disgustingly extreme at face value, but they pick at ... read more

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Super Custer, Episode 1:

"In the Constellation of the Black Widow" by Anaal Nathrakh (06-29-2009)

If you haven't heard this band, do yourself a favor right now.

This is easily my favorite Anaal Nathrakh album. "Hell Is Empty, And All The Devils Are Here" (released in 2007) is a close second, but this album is both dark and ascending. The vocals are improved tremendously, everything sounds meaner but also more melodic at the same time, it's short, and ... read more

The Great Custer Depression X
"Ember to Inferno" by Trivium (10-14-2003)

Trivium is by far one of the best metalcore bands from the melodic 2000s scene. However their first album is a little rough on the edges... But they still hit the spot sometimes. I mean, to be honest, and this is kind of cheating by the way (since this was the first Trivium album), but there is definitely a lot more interesting albums by Trivium than their first effort. A big however, though, is that you can see ... read more