Anodyne "The First Four Years - Discography Volume 1" CD
[Black Box]
You know a discography collection is all about being complete when the first track on the fucker is an unreleased "song" from 1997 dubbed "The Metal Years Part 3" that's nothing but five minutes of way raw feedback and drums and nothing but. Thankfully the quality of the collection improves drastically from that point on! Included herein, as stated, are Anodyne's early recordings from 1997 - 2001 in chronological order; consisting of demo, 7", compilation, and unreleased tracks from chief visionary Mike Hill and a revolving lineup that at times included Thos Niles and Ayal Naor (both perhaps more known for their work with 27), not to mention Dave Witte (Who knew?). I've been a fan of this band for years, and while their most recent efforts have proved no less intense, I must admit a certain fondness for some of their older material. The 1997 demo (most of which also made up the band's self-titled 7" debut in 1998) kicks ass and represents the band's heavier and more rhythmic days, with despondently shouted/screamed vocals over harsh fits of caustic guitar textures and pulsing basslines with raging drum fills and a serious penchant for surging rhythmic intensity. Certainly the kind of thing that should have noise rock enthusiasts and gritty, pre-fashionable metalcore fans alike feeling the burn. The recording's a little on the muddy side, but for an eight-year-old demo it stands the test of time damn well and is actually a rather effective listen. You can hear all of the elements and the thickness certainly keeps the churning heaviness in your face. Next up is "Lead by Example", a live track recorded on WJUL in 1998 that appeared in very condensed form on the self-titled EP. But this here's the full nine-minute shebang, complete with grungy detuned guitars and feedback, distant group yelling and indistinguishable samples - far sludgier than anything else in the band's catalog, and something that might sound surprisingly inviting to Eyehategod fanatics. Then it's three compilation tracks, also from 1998, that take the approach of the 1997 demo and tighten things up just a touch, while the vocals become slightly more distinct in terms of actual enunciation and walking the line between talking and yelling. The recordings are also a little dryer here, adding a hint of breathing room. They still sound a little rough and dated, which they are, but again, that's not really an issue, and I could actually argue that those characteristics actually benefit the material. The lengthy "The Shape of Things to Come" is a little irritatingly noisy for my tastes what with its reverberated feedback textures cutting through the mix at times, but this one also flirts with some of the dingy sludge and noisescapes heard in "Lead by Example", which is kind of cool. Similarly approached is the unreleased "Walking Small", which adds in a few abrasive electronic noises and harshly shouted vocals for a more literally grating attack. The "Red Was Her Favorite Color" 7" was the only previously released material herein that I had never heard before, and I was definitely a little taken aback by the unexpected tremolo picking bursts in opener "Jack Ruby" (which I don't really care for), but aside from a thinner recording that loses a little of the oppressive power of the demo the material is basically in line with its surroundings, granted there's a noticeably larger amount of tempo changes and a couple of varied explorations into subtly lighter dynamics (check out the clean riffs in "Gatto"). Hell, "Furnace" alone makes the EP a keeper, as it's by far one of the most aggressive and sinister tracks in the band's history - twisted dissonant riffs and pounding throb and all. The "Berkowitz" 7" just about wraps it up and takes shockingly intense bursts of speed (bordering on a black metal level at times, though of course not stylistically comparable in any manner) to new heights for the band, while still retaining that grimy underbelly of harsh noise rock and mangled rhythmic quirks in tow. I remember being a little underwhelmed by this 7" when I originally heard it, and that stills stands today. The sound is a little too thin, and I find the explosive speeds to be in poor taste to the overall character of the band's songwriting. On the other hand, the lightly distorted chords and more distinguishable vocals in "Dreaming Minds of the Masses" make much more sense, and provide a great breather (the end of this track where things get a little more melodic is fucking incredible and marks another stellar moment in the Anodyne back catalog for my money); and the same can be said for the sparse feedback and spoken vocals in closer "Hecate". Good stuff. An unreleased number from 2001, "Persuasion", ends things off for this installment, bookending the disc with another guitar oriented noisescape consisting of dingy drones and low-end rattles with some abstract background sounds and far off spoken vocals that you can barely even recognize. Also worth a quick note is that there are two covers interspersed within the madness, including barely recognizable takes on Husker Du's "I Will Never Forget You" and Charles Manson's "Look at Your Game Girl". No lyrics are included, which makes sense since it probably would've required a massive booklet, but since you'll be hard pressed to make out any of the words it's perhaps a little disappointing. The packaging, however, looks awesome, printed entirely in black and metallic gold inks with a little white text showing through for clean, crisp recording details and tiny images of all of the original record covers (including the compilations) amidst plenty of bleak visual content. As with any collection CD this journey has its ups and downs, but the highs are definitely up there, and the lows ain't so bad, so... fans of the band who missed some of this early material should probably take an interest. The demo definitely kills, as do a number of the other tracks, so I'll be curious to see what comes with "Volume 2". (7/10)
Running time - 66:09, Tracks: 20
[Notable tracks: The Spirit of Compromise, Sometimes No Means Right, Lead by Example, Furnace, Dreaming Minds of the Masses, Hecate]
Black Box Recordings - http://www.blackboxrec.com

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