ALBUM REVIEW: Anthroscene – A Storm Of Light

The description of “apocalypse core” and “post-everything” on their Facebook bio is a pretty apt description away from the usual genre tags for this American four piece. The latest album and fifth full length offering from A STORM OF LIGHT, Anthroscene, was put together by each of the band members recording their own parts separately as they are spread out across the country and then everything was brought together by frontman Josh Graham. The resulting collection has just been released through Belgian label ConSouling Sounds.

Anthroscene opens with the haunting and subdued Prime Time which immediately throws each of the album’s respective parts together and gives you a lead towards their influences. There are healthy amounts of KILLING JOKE, PAILHEAD, MINISTRY and BIG BLACK, among others, to be found in there and each of the eight songs offers up a different dystopian look at the world, with them all coming together into one solid block of work. It is an album to listen to right through as there are no particular stand out track – though the two longest songs, Blackout and Life Will Be Violent, offer a sense of epic grandeur and feature arguably the most memorable hooks on Anthroscene.

Thematically, A STORM OF LIGHT take a bleak look at world events that you might think are desolate enough as it is. The music of Anthroscene is as challenging as the lyrical content, and the moments where the music does take on a more harmonious tone are brought crashing back down to earth by the nihilistic lyrics. It comes not from the usual viewpoint of fighting against a common enemy, its more along the lines that its too late to fight and we now have to live with the result of generations of apathy.

Anthroscene is an enthralling and compelling mixture of a number of influences that comes together to make one of the more extraordinary albums to be released this year. The main thing that shines through is how cohesive the different styles are when brought together and how well they work to create a brooding work that brings to mind the early nineties industrial scene. A STORM OF LIGHT have crafted a challenging yet rewarding listen with Anthroscene, and an interesting addition to their diverse catalogue.

Rating: 8/10

Anthroscene is out now via Consouling Sounds.

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