Anaal Nathrakh
Encyclopedia
Anaal Nathrakh are a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...

 band formed in 1999 who fuse black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

, grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....

, death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 and industrial music
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

. They are currently signed to Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,...

.

The name comes from Merlin's Charm of Making in John Boorman
John Boorman
John Boorman is a British filmmaker who is a long time resident of Ireland and is best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, The General and The Tailor of Panama.-Early life:Boorman was born in Shepperton, Surrey,...

's 1981 film Excalibur
Excalibur (film)
Excalibur is a 1981 dramatic fantasy film directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Adapted from the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur features the music of Richard Wagner...

. According to Michael Everson
Michael Everson
Michael Everson is a linguist, script encoder, typesetter, and font designer. His central area of expertise is with writing systems of the world, specifically in the representation of these systems in formats for computer and digital media...

's transcription, Anaal Nathrakh means "serpent's breath".

Description

Anaal Nathrakh are typically described as black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

, despite eschewing the aesthetic of many black metal bands, such as dressing in a casual manner, as opposed to the corpsepaint and spiked leather clothing traditionally favoured by the black metal subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...

. The band does not publish their lyrics.

Anaal Nathrakh, like many black metal bands, draw much inspiration from the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...

, exemplified by such song titles as "Human, All Too Fucking Human" and "Revaluation of All Values". All of Anaal Nathrakh's music is written, recorded and produced by Mick Kenney.

Biography

Anaal Nathrakh started off in 1998 as a raw black metal band. Two demos were released in 1999, Anaal Nathrakh and Total Fucking Necro. Following this, the band were signed by indie record label Mordgrimm, who released the duo's debut album, The Codex Necro
The Codex Necro
The Codex Necro is the first full length album by the British black metal band Anaal Nathrakh, released in 2001.The album was re-released April 24, 2006, with four additional bonus tracks taken from the John Peel BBC Radio One Session which was broadcast 16 December 2003...

, in 2001. In 2002, Anaal Nathrakh's first two demos were compiled into a single disc entitled Total Fucking Necro
Total Fucking Necro
Total Fucking Necro is a compilation album made up of the two Anaal Nathrakh demos, Anaal Nathrakh and Total Fucking Necro, and one previously unreleased track from the unreleased We Will Fucking Kill You 2001 demo...

. This was released by the UK underground metal label Rage Of Achilles. In 2003, Mordgrimm released the band's first EP, When Fire Rains Down from the Sky, Mankind Will Reap as It Has Sown
When Fire Rains Down from the Sky, Mankind Will Reap As It Has Sown
When Fire Rains Down From the Sky, Mankind Will Reap As It Has Sown is an EP by British black metal group Anaal Nathrakh. The EP was written right after The Codex Necro and features guest appearances by Aborym's Sethlans Teitan on guitar and Attila Csihar of Mayhem on vocals. It was re-released in...

.

In 2004, Anaal Nathrakh released their second full-length album, Domine Non Es Dignus
Domine Non Es Dignus
Domine Non Es Dignus is the second studio album by British black metal group Anaal Nathrakh. It was released in 2004. The title means "Lord, you are not worthy" in Latin.-Background:...

, on the French label Season of Mist
Season of Mist
Season of Mist is a record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pagan metal and death metal records, the label moved on to releasing...

. Domine Non Es Dignus showed a departure from the band's raw black metal roots. In 2006, the group's third album, Eschaton
Eschaton
The term Eschaton refers to the end of the present world and is addressed in the study of eschatology.Eschaton may also refer to:*Eschaton , a 2006 black metal album by Anaal Nathrakh* Eschaton, a weblog written by Dr. Duncan B...

 (a form of prophecy concerning the end of the world
Eschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...

), was released. Eschatons music continued in the same vein as Domine Non Es Dignus. This album featured guest appearances by Shane Embury
Shane Embury
Shane Embury is a British bassist and member of Napalm Death.-Napalm Death:Embury is the only member left who has been in the band since the Scum tour, replacing previous bassist Jim Whitley in 1987...

 of Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...

 and Attila Csihar
Attila Csihar
Attila Csihar , also sometimes known as Void, is a Hungarian black metal vocalist, best known for his vocal work on the album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas by Mayhem. Author Ian Christe describes his vocals as "operatic."-Biography:...

 of Mayhem
Mayhem (band)
Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1984 in Oslo, Norway and regarded as one of the pioneers of the influential Norwegian black metal scene...

.

The album Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Here
Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Here
Hell Is Empty, and All the Devils Are Here is the fourth album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh, released on October 29, 2007, by Feto Records...

 was released through the band's new record label, FETO Records
FETO Records
FETO Records is a British independent record label founded by Mick Kenney and Shane Embury.The name of the record label is an acronym of From Enslavement To Obliteration, the title of Napalm Death's second album....

, in October 2007.

In 2009, Anaal Nathrakh announced that they signed to record label Candlelight Records for their upcoming release of In the Constellation of the Black Widow
In the Constellation of the Black Widow
In the Constellation of the Black Widow is the fifth studio album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh, released on June 29, 2009, by Candlelight Records. The album was also released on LP, limited to 500 copies...

. Commenting on the signing, V.I.T.R.I.O.L. stated, "Candlelight have shown a strong belief in Anaal Nathrakh and looking at some of the acts on their roster both past and present it seems they are capable of backing up their good intentions. With their help we hope we can finally get the planet cracked in half", and "Constellation will be faster, more insidious, more ominous, more musically dexterous and wilder than ever before. The album will feature a curve ball guest appearance from Zeitgeist Memento of Mexican extremists Repvblika." In the Constellation of the Black Widow was released in June 2009, and swiftly received many positive reviews from respected magazines and websites. It went on to be placed in numerous international "best of 2009" lists, including about.com and Terrorizer magazine.

Anaal Nathrakh released their sixth full-length album, Passion
Passion (Anaal Nathrakh album)
"Passion" is the sixth full-length album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh. It was released on May 17, 2011 by Candlelight Records. The album features guest appearances by Drugzilla, Rainer Landfermann, Ventnor and Alan Dubin.-Track listing:...

, in 2011.

Playing live

Anaal Nathrakh began as a purely studio-based project, the band never looking to take Anaal Nathrakh to the stage. However, following a successful BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 live session with John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

 (as heard on the 2006 re-release of The Codex Necro
The Codex Necro
The Codex Necro is the first full length album by the British black metal band Anaal Nathrakh, released in 2001.The album was re-released April 24, 2006, with four additional bonus tracks taken from the John Peel BBC Radio One Session which was broadcast 16 December 2003...

), they sought to play live again, although only for special one-offs. They have stated they are not to become an ordinary touring band.

Anaal Nathrakh made their live debut at London's Underworld on December 15, 2005, as headliners for Terrorizer Magazine
Terrorizer Magazine
Terrorizer is an extreme music magazine published by Dark Arts Ltd. in the United Kingdom. It is released every four weeks with thirteen issues a year and features a 'Fear Candy' covermount CD, a twice yearly 'Fear Candy Unsigned' CD, and a double-sided poster.-1993:Terrorizer published its first...

's "A Cold Night In Hell" Christmas show. This was followed by another show at Birmingham Edwards No. 8 on December 16, supported by Narcosis
Narcosis (band)
Narcosis was a grindcore band from Wigan, Greater Manchester, in the north of England, founded in 1995 and split in October 2007.-Final:* Jamie - vocals * Brod - drums...

 and Ramesses
Ramesses (band)
Ramesses is a sludge/doom metal band from Dorset, England, featuring ex-members of Electric Wizard.-Biography:Ramesses was formed in February 2003 by Tim Bagshaw and Mark Greening with Adam Richardson formerly of Lord of Putrefaction, Spirmyard, and Hexed...

.

Since then the band has performed at several festivals and the occasional live show. Notable appearances in 2007 include the Inferno Metal Festival
Inferno Metal Festival
Inferno Metal Festival is an annual extreme metal festival in Oslo, Norway. The festival was founded by Borknagar guitarist Jens F. Ryland in cooperation with Radar Booking in 2001 and take place at Rockefeller Music Hall.-2011:...

, the No Mercy Festival
No Mercy Festival
The No Mercy Festival is an annual heavy metal music festival/tour in Europe. It is organized by the Metallysee booking agency. The 2007 edition will take place from March 31 to April 15, 2007, and it will visit eight countries.-2007 lineup:...

, the Damnation Festival, the Hole In The Sky festival, and a hometown show in Birmingham.

In 2008 the band embarked on a small tour, which included several UK dates, headlining the Maryland Deathfest
Maryland Deathfest
Maryland Deathfest is an annual extreme music festival held in or near Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The festival mostly features death metal and grindcore bands. It has always occurred during Memorial Day weekend each year....

 and FETO Fest, and playing Hellfest
Hellfest
Hellfest started as a hardcore punk music festival during the summer of 1996 in Syracuse, New York. Named for the intense summer heat at the show, it soon became a staple festival for the hardcore and punk rock scene...

 in Clisson, France.

In 2009 Anaal Nathrakh supported Testament
Testament (band)
Testament is an American metal band from Berkeley, California, formed in 1983. They are often credited as one of the most popular bands of the 1980s thrash metal scene...

 in London, and performed at the Brutal Assault
Brutal assault
Brutal Assault is an extreme metal open-air music festival taking place in the 18th century army Fortress Josefov in Jaroměř, Czech Republic. It takes place each August traditionally on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the beginning of the month. The festival was started in 1995 featuring mostly...

 festival, the Summer Breeze Open Air
Summer Breeze Open Air
Summer Breeze Open Air is a heavy metal music festival in Germany. It takes place annually in Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria. It was first held in 1997. The festival had been held in Abtsgmünd until 2006 when it was moved to its new location of Dinkelsbühl. The festival draws around 40,000 attendees annually...

 festival, and the Incubate
Incubate (festival)
Incubate is a multidisciplinary arts festival in Tilburg, the Netherlands. On June 16, the festival changed it name into Incubate after a request by the Austin, US based festival SXSW to change its name. Between 2005 and 2008 the festival was called ZXZW....

 festival.

In 2010, Anaal Nathrakh performed with Marduk
Marduk (band)
Marduk is a black metal band from Norrköping, Sweden. The band formed in 1990 and released their first record in 1991. Their name is derived from the Babylonian god Marduk, patron deity of Babylon.-Musical style:...

 on the Funeral Nation Tour, playing ten shows in the UK and Ireland.

Band members

  • Irrumator
    Mick Kenney
    Mick Kenney is a musician, artist, and producer from Birmingham, UK. He relocated to California, Orange County in 2007. He currently plays in extreme metal acts Anaal Nathrakh, and Suffer well. His past bands include Fukpig, Frost, Professor Fate and Mistress.He is the owner of Necrodeath...

     (Mick Kenney) (ex-Frost, ex-Mistress
    Mistress (band)
    Mistress were an extreme metal band from Birmingham, England, United Kingdom. The members of this five-piece band adopted pseudonyms as stage-names including: Drunken and Misery on guitars, Dirty Von Arse on bass, Dave Cunt on vocals and Migg on drums...

    , Sorrows, ex-Professor Fate, Fukpig
    Fukpig
    Fukpig is a Birmingham based crust/black metal band. Their lyrics focus mainly on war and political matters, especially the middle east invasion. They were formed as a side project in 2001 by members of Mistress and Anaal Nathrakh....

    ) – guitars, bass, drums, drum programming, production
  • V.I.T.R.I.O.L.
    Dave Hunt (musician)
    Dave Hunt is a British heavy metal vocalist. He was born in Solihull, West Midlands, England. He currently is the vocalist of both Benediction and grindcore/black metal band Anaal Nathrakh...

     (Dave Hunt) (Benediction
    Benediction (band)
    Benediction is a British death metal band from Birmingham, England. They were formed in February 1989.-Biography:The Birmingham-based death metal band Benediction were formed in February 1989 by Paul Adams , Peter Rew , Darren Brookes , and Mark "Barney" Greenway...

    , Mistress
    Mistress (band)
    Mistress were an extreme metal band from Birmingham, England, United Kingdom. The members of this five-piece band adopted pseudonyms as stage-names including: Drunken and Misery on guitars, Dirty Von Arse on bass, Dave Cunt on vocals and Migg on drums...

    ) – vocals

Additional live members

  • Ventnor (Nog) – guitar
  • Misery (Paul Kenney) (Mistress
    Mistress (band)
    Mistress were an extreme metal band from Birmingham, England, United Kingdom. The members of this five-piece band adopted pseudonyms as stage-names including: Drunken and Misery on guitars, Dirty Von Arse on bass, Dave Cunt on vocals and Migg on drums...

    , Fukpig
    Fukpig
    Fukpig is a Birmingham based crust/black metal band. Their lyrics focus mainly on war and political matters, especially the middle east invasion. They were formed as a side project in 2001 by members of Mistress and Anaal Nathrakh....

    ) – bass
  • St. Evil (Steve Powell) (Theoktony) – drums

Past members

  • Leicia – bass (1998–2000)
  • Nicholas Barker
    Nicholas Barker
    Nicholas Howard Barker is an extreme metal drummer .- Biography :He was the original drummer for British metal band Cradle of Filth, playing on the first three albums. After leaving in 1999, he joined Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir...

     – live drums (ex-Cradle of Filth
    Cradle of Filth
    Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...

    , ex-Dimmu Borgir
    Dimmu Borgir
    Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1993. Dimmu borgir means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The name is derived from a volcanic formation in Iceland, Dimmuborgir...

    ) (2004)
  • Shane Embury
    Shane Embury
    Shane Embury is a British bassist and member of Napalm Death.-Napalm Death:Embury is the only member left who has been in the band since the Scum tour, replacing previous bassist Jim Whitley in 1987...

     – live bass (Napalm Death
    Napalm Death
    Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...

    , Lock Up
    Lock Up (UK band)
    Lock Up is a deathgrind side project originally formed by Shane Embury , Nicholas Barker and Jesse Pintado...

    , Venomous Concept
    Venomous Concept
    Venomous Concept is a hardcore punk band; the name itself is a play on Poison Idea, in the style of name-mangling Japanese hardcore acts.-History:...

    , Unseen Terror
    Unseen Terror
    Unseen Terror was a British extreme metal band formed by Shane Embury and Mitch Dickinson , and played extreme metal with a technical edge. Their most notable feat took place in March 1988, when they recorded tracks for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 program.-History:To set the record straight - The band...

    , Brujeria
    Brujeria (band)
    Brujeria is an extreme metal band formed in Tijuana, Mexico in 1989. Their name comes from the Spanish word for "witchcraft". Their songs, which are sung in Spanish, are focused on Satanism, anti-Christianity, sex, immigration, narcotics smuggling, politics....

    ) (2004–2005)
  • Danny Herrera – live drums (Napalm Death
    Napalm Death
    Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...

    ) (2005)

Discography

  • The Codex Necro
    The Codex Necro
    The Codex Necro is the first full length album by the British black metal band Anaal Nathrakh, released in 2001.The album was re-released April 24, 2006, with four additional bonus tracks taken from the John Peel BBC Radio One Session which was broadcast 16 December 2003...

     (2001)
  • Total Fucking Necro
    Total Fucking Necro
    Total Fucking Necro is a compilation album made up of the two Anaal Nathrakh demos, Anaal Nathrakh and Total Fucking Necro, and one previously unreleased track from the unreleased We Will Fucking Kill You 2001 demo...

     (2002)
  • When Fire Rains Down from the Sky, Mankind Will Reap as It Has Sown
    When Fire Rains Down from the Sky, Mankind Will Reap As It Has Sown
    When Fire Rains Down From the Sky, Mankind Will Reap As It Has Sown is an EP by British black metal group Anaal Nathrakh. The EP was written right after The Codex Necro and features guest appearances by Aborym's Sethlans Teitan on guitar and Attila Csihar of Mayhem on vocals. It was re-released in...

     (2003)
  • Domine Non Es Dignus
    Domine Non Es Dignus
    Domine Non Es Dignus is the second studio album by British black metal group Anaal Nathrakh. It was released in 2004. The title means "Lord, you are not worthy" in Latin.-Background:...

     (2004)
  • Eschaton
    Eschaton (album)
    Eschaton is the third album by British black metal band Anaal Nathrakh. Musically, the album continues in the vein of the previous album, Domine Non Es Dignus. Some reviewers have commented that the overall atmosphere and production are at the same time a step back towards the out-and-out ferocity...

     (2006)
  • Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Here
    Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Here
    Hell Is Empty, and All the Devils Are Here is the fourth album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh, released on October 29, 2007, by Feto Records...

     (2007)
  • In the Constellation of the Black Widow
    In the Constellation of the Black Widow
    In the Constellation of the Black Widow is the fifth studio album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh, released on June 29, 2009, by Candlelight Records. The album was also released on LP, limited to 500 copies...

     (2009)
  • Passion
    Passion (Anaal Nathrakh album)
    "Passion" is the sixth full-length album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh. It was released on May 17, 2011 by Candlelight Records. The album features guest appearances by Drugzilla, Rainer Landfermann, Ventnor and Alan Dubin.-Track listing:...

    (2011)

External links

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