Anacrusis Hindsight

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by Justin Gaines
Staff Writer

Now this is an interesting collection of material. Hindsight is a 2-disc set of early material, completely re-recorded, from the thrash band Anacrusis. If you’re not familiar with the band, Anacrusis was one of the first bands to truly merge the thrash and progressive metal styles.

The sheer technical talent and songwriting ability this band displayed should put them in a league with bands like Atheist, Believer and Death, but for whatever reason the band has remained largely unrecognized. Sure, a lot of bands cross genres like this now, but at the time Anacrusis were trailblazers. They released a pair of utterly brilliant albums on Metal Blade in the early ‘90s (Manic Impressions and Screams and Whispers), but their first two albums – Reason and Suffering Hour have been lost to time…until now. The original Anacrusis lineup has re-recorded all of the songs from their first two albums for this impressively packaged 2-disc collection.

Most of us would have been content with remastered reissues of these albums, and it almost never turns out well when the bands go back and re-record old songs (see Helstar’s Sins of the Past and Exciter’s New Testament). Still, this is Anacrusis we’re talking about. They’ve bloody well earned the benefit of a doubt.

If your only exposure to these albums was via the original vinyl or the crappy bootleg CDs that have been circulating, Hindsight is going to be an absolute revelation. First of all, the production, mixing and mastering job is worlds better than the original recordings. Second, the songs are performed by a band that had improved a great deal over the years. Their later albums Manic Impressions and Screams and Whispers are proof of what just a few short years can do; Hindsight shows the benefit of two decades. Those two factors, plus the pure brilliance of the original songwriting will have jaws hitting the floor as soon as the first song starts playing. It’s at once completely new and completely familiar, like hearing old favorites for the very first time. This is just a dazzling display of technicality fused with aggression that has to be heard to be believed.

Hindsight is a must-have for long-time Anacrusis fans, and makes a good starting point for newcomers as well (though it’s hard to beat Screams and Whispers as the perfect “gateway drug”). It would still be cool to see straight-up reissues of the original albums, but after hearing Hindsight it’s going to be hard to go back.

Genre: Thrash Metal

Band:

Ken Nardi (v) (g)

Kevin Heidbreder (g)

John Emery (b)

Mike Owen (d)

Track Listing:

Disc 1

1. Present Tense
2. Imprisoned
3. R.O.T
4. Butcher’s Block
5. Apocalypse
6. A World To Gain
7. Frigid Bitch
8. Fighting Evil
9. The Twisted Cross
10. Annihilation Complete/Disemboweled

 Disc 2

1. Injustice
2. Stop Me
3. Terrified
4. Not Forgotten
5. Wrong
6. Silent Crime
7. Killing My Mind
8. Misshapen Intent
9. Afraid To Feel
10. Child Inside
11. Vital
12. Quick To Doubt

Label: Stormspell

Website: www.anacrusis.us

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5/10