{"id":48559,"date":"2015-03-06T06:10:32","date_gmt":"2015-03-06T11:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=48559"},"modified":"2015-03-08T08:19:44","modified_gmt":"2015-03-08T13:19:44","slug":"kenn-nardi-dancing-with-the-past-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/kenn-nardi-dancing-with-the-past-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenn Nardi | Dancing With the Past<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"KennIt’s been more than two decades since the release of Screams and Whispers<\/em>, the final album from the criminally overlooked progressive thrash band Anacrusis. The band’s recent reunion gave fans hope for a new album, but that reunion proved short-lived. That did not deter singer\/guitarist\/chief songwriter Kenn Nardi, who was already penning new songs as far back as 1994! As 2014 came to a close Nardi delivered his first-ever solo album, titled Dancing With the Past<\/em>. It’s a massive 28-song release spread across two discs, and it showcases the amazing creativity and talent Nardi has to offer.<\/p>\n

While Dancing With the Past<\/em> does feature a handful of contributions from Nardi’s Anacrusis bandmates, the vast majority of these songs are written and performed by Nardi, who also produced and mixed the album. As you might expect, much of Dancing With the Past<\/em> could pass as a new Anacrusis album, if not two. Nardi has moved beyond the Thrash Metal constraints over the years though, so this set is much closer to Progressive Metal territory. Still, the signature elements of Anacrusis’s sound \u2013 those unique guitar riffs, prominent bass lines and of course Nardi’s varying vocal styles \u2013 are very much in place here.<\/p>\n

Beyond just the similarities to those classic Anacrusis albums \u2013 which are huge and undeniably why most people will be checking this set out in the first place \u2013 Dancing With the Past finds Nardi bringing in a wide and fascinating array of sonic elements. There are symphonic elements, atmospheric acoustic passages, a strong Prog Rock influence and even nods to Gothic Rock and New Wave. And they all come together perfectly. The album maintains a cohesive feel and atmosphere no matter how avant-garde or experimental the songs get, or when the songs were originally developed.<\/p>\n

Anacrusis fans have been waiting decades for new material, and while Dancing With the Past<\/em> doesn’t bear the Anacrusis logo, it absolutely has the Anacrusis spirit. And it’s absolutely worth the wait. Kenn Nardi has put together a truly remarkable collection of innovative Progressive Metal songs here. In a genre where too many \u201cprogressive\u201d bands have been content to follow an established formula, it’s so good to see artists break from that formula and remind us what truly progressive music can be.<\/p>\n

It goes without saying that Dancing With the Past<\/em> is a must-have release for all Anacrusis fans. Beyond that, Kenn Nardi is an artist who just about any fan of Progressive Metal, particularly artists like Believer, Leprous and Cynic, should make it a point to hear.<\/p>\n

Genre: Progressive Metal<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tUnneccessary Evil
\n2.\tFragile
\n3.\tMade
\n4.\tArmies of One
\n5.\tLament in Rust
\n6.\tDead Letters
\n7.\tSubmerged
\n8.\tAwait the Setting Sun
\n9.\tThis Killer in My House
\n10.\tStraining the Frayed
\n11.\tThe Dark and the Light
\n12.\tThe Telling Skies
\n13.\tUntouchable
\n14.\tThe Scarlet Letter
\n15.\tBlinding Lies
\n16.\tSpitting Bitter
\n17.\tOrdinary
\n18.\tDancing With the Past
\n19.\tOne World
\n20.\tCreve Coeur
\n21.\tA Little Light
\n22.\tBlood in the Water
\n23.\tClimbing
\n24.\tStabbing Sorrow
\n25.\tDead Man’s Bones
\n26.\tSymbiotic
\n27.\tBeside Myself
\n28.\tThe Runt<\/p>\n

Label: Divebomb Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.facebook.com\/kenn.nardi.official<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist — It’s been more than two decades since the release of Screams and Whispers, the final album from the criminally overlooked progressive thrash band Anacrusis. The band’s recent reunion […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":48569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[10015,2317,10908,923,10907,1098,10909],"class_list":{"0":"post-48559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-anacrusis","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-dancing-with-the-past","11":"tag-divebomb-records","12":"tag-kenn-nardi","13":"tag-progressive-metal","14":"tag-screams-and-whispers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}