Anvil – Anvil Is Anvil

[nyrating]

20th February 2016 Reinier de Vries Album Reviews 0

If you still think that an anvil is only something you need to forge metal, you probably accidentally landed on this site. Anvil is probably the band that inspired and influenced the big four and many other speed/thrash (metal) bands most. Why the band isn’t the biggest one in the genre is a question asked many times and partly answered in the amazing DVD called ‘The Story Of Anvil’. A documentary about the band and their struggle to find success and recognition. Personally I find it one of the best in metal history with a tear, a laugh and it shows the life story of two dedicated members. After the DVD the band gained popularity again (Steve and Robb finally earn enough money to make a living playing the band) and at the moment they are touring Europe opening for UDO.

I could have made it my shortest review of an album ever, by just saying: Anvil is Anvil. Just like AC/DC is AC/DC. The music of Anvil never changes a lot. Every album has some songs that really are above average, but there are always a few songs that are just not good enough, or should I say too cliché. The most non typical Anvil song is immediately the opener “Daggers and Rum”. A very cosy pirate song with drinking sounds and a refrain to sing a long with. After that there are songs that really can impress me like “Up, Down and Sideways”, “Runaway Train”, “It’s Your Move”, “Fire On the Highway” and “Run Like Hell”. All these are up-tempo or fast and I just like faster Anvil songs more.

The other tracks are mid-tempo or slower, with sometimes a bit boring refrains like for example “Ambushed”. A typical Anvil track, with a riff and a refrain you can find on every Anvil album since they started. Like I already wrote before, there are always some songs that are too average to make a new Anvil album a real hammer, but that doesn’t make this a bad album! Steve and Robb again delivered a well produced good sounding album with some excellent metal tracks, but a few less good songs on it as well.

As long as Robb Reiner and Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow stay so enthusiastic and dedicated, Anvil will be around for years to come, making albums worth listening to!

Tracklist:

01. Daggers an Rum
02. Up, Down, Sideways
03. Gun Control
04. Die For A Lie
05. Runaway Train
06. Zombie Apocalypse
07. Its Your Move
08. Ambushed
09. Fire On the Highway
10. Run Like Hell
11. Forgive Don’t Forget
12. Never Going To Stop

Playing time: 45:00

Release date: 26 February 2016

Label: Steamhammer SPV

Website: www.facebook.com/anvilmetal

About Reinier de Vries 188 Articles

Once a metal head, always a metalhead. My parents thought it would only be a period, but they were wrong. I quit to explain the beauty of metal music to others that are not into metal, because it is something you can't tell in words... It is like explaining to a teetotaller why a cold beer is so nice on a hot day... I started with bands like Accept, Metal Church, Iron Maiden and Metallica in the eighties and I think I will still listen to them when I'm stone deaf and old...