ALBUM REVIEW: Anna Sage – Anna Sage
It’s taken Paris’ ANNA SAGE a fair whack of time to get a full-length album out to the world. Formed in 2012, the four-piece have refused to rush things, adding just two EPs to their oeuvre since then. Fortunately, that changes this Friday with the release of their much-anticipated self-titled debut. It’s a record that’s absolutely worth the wait, and although it may have its fair share of antecedents – especially from one band who we’ll get to in particular – it still manages to stand tall in its own right. This is hardcore at its most caustic and chaotic, and the results are practically impossible to turn away from.
With many hardcore bands nowadays choosing to get in and get out in tight half-hour turnarounds, Anna Sage’s 42-minute runtime actually feels quite generous. It never drags either, with 11 tracks bursting forth with impressive flow and consistent quality. Naturally, there are lots of twists and turns, but never to the extent that one has nothing to grab onto. Unlike some of their peers, ANNA SAGE aren’t afraid to stick to a good idea when they find one, riding things out to their logical conclusions rather than always jumping onto the next section or song. It’s this sense of craft, as well as a powerful command of dynamics, that makes Anna Sage truly compelling.
As mentioned, all this regularly evokes one band in particular – one many may have guessed already as the legendary CONVERGE. The Parisians have much in common with the Massachusetts maestros, particularly in their Jane Doe/You Fail Me era. Of course, standing up in any measure to such towering comparisons is a daunting task indeed, but some tracks here really do feel as though they could’ve fit in on those records, not least the relentlessly gripping run of Hostile Cage, Lost In A Frame and Double Blind which kicks off the album’s second half. Vocalist Xavier Perreve drives home similar comparisons throughout, his tortured screams adding a Bannon-esque sense of lung-seared despair to proceedings.
If you’re reading all this thinking ANNA SAGE are just some cheap imitators though, think again. Much like fairly recent work from bands like PUPIL SLICER and CRUELTY, this is a record that picks up on some established formulae and shows that they still have much more to offer. It sounds phenomenal, with the production ensuring that the band’s bite remains even at their most sludgy and suffocating. Every track is practically bulletproof – the overall effect one of an arresting and cohesive whole. It grabs you straight away with the chaotic blasting of opener The Holy Mice, refusing to let go until closer …The Serpents slips beneath a squall of piercing noise.
It’s clear then that the time it’s taken ANNA SAGE to get a full-length together has paid off. This is an incredibly mature and accomplished debut album, but then what would you expect from a band who’ve been honing their craft for a full decade? We could either sit here and wonder what took them so long, or we could relish in the results. Given the quality of what’s on offer here, many are sure to choose the latter. Welcome to the party ANNA SAGE.
Rating: 8/10
Anna Sage is set for release on April 15th via Klonosphere Records.
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