21st January 2024

Review: “Anathema“ by Town Destroyer

Quintessentially a Melodic Hardcore act hailing from Huston Texas, Town Destroyer are a collection of souls who have been searching for a place to vent since the bands inception in 2016. Since they have been through a few line up changes while releasing a debut full length album in 2019’s “Petrichor” and a pair of EPs in 2021’s “Paradise Falls” and “What I Risk to Be Close to You“, each one a collection of songs wrapped in lyrical themes of loss, pain and anguish while being soaked in a blend of melodic guitars and crushing breakdowns. 2023 was described by the band as being a revitalising year with a new line up of Angelo on vocals, Arturo and Corbin on guitar, Daniel on bass and Tanner on drums creating “Anathema“…

Flying out the gate like a dungeon whippet racing down Hell’s dog track in pursuit of a final meal, “Idle Hands” has flavours of “Hot Damn!” era Every Time I Die with the adrenaline rush of energised guitars and tight rhythms for two steppers. While it doesn’t have the cryptic lyrics of Keith Buckley, it does have the same white knuckle edge of the seat rush but here’s the thing. This band specialise in doing things authentically and they do that by having a pair of melodic breaks, the first seeing the guitars drop out for some cleaner vocals and bouncy punky basslines before bringing back the groove laden riffs and trademark Hardcore screams; the second coming to fade after a ripper of a technical solo which is the absolute Chef’s Kiss. Having set the tone with a grade a Semtex banger, Town Destroyer change the trajectory with an atmospheric piece in “Means To An End“, a delicate piano and whispered wind flowing underneath a spoken work about the plight of the American Indian. Bordering on the cinematic, it’s the perfect soundscape for an art house movie and stirs the soul with its very nature. It also severs as an introduction for the Metallic Hardcore powerhouse that is “All My Relations:: Mitakuye Oyasin“, a cut which takes the subject matter and injects the venom with breakdowns and passionately screamed vocals. Programmed 90’s breakbeats in the centre make the suggestion that the band may have ambitions to push things in the direction of Vein.fm but they don’t push it as far as they could, reigning things in for another lethal dose of riffage instead. What stands out about this record the most is the sheer quality of these compositions. Town Destroyer have been at this game for the better part of eight years so perhaps rightly they have matured like a fine wine [8/10]

Track Listing