3 out of 5

Label: Translation Loss

Produced by: Matt Labozza, Chris Common (recorded by)

Hm. Yesterday’s top ten radio hit is today’s indie hardcore band.

So: I have my issues with the mix on this, but Matt Bayles definitely delivered the sound the band wanted; Chris Common’s drumwork on this is definitely the elevation it needs, and I’m glad he recorded it himself, as Chris’ layers adds a good counterpoint to the colder / flatter guitars and vocals. The latter of which – the singing – is consistent; the bass functional; the guitar delivers solid, overdriven riffs.

But, eh, this is Filter. This is every 90s pseudo-industrial yelly band, before rap-rock took over. The phrase “opiate of the masses” is uttered, sincerely. It’s not that there isn’t a place for this music – it’s absolutely enjoyable stuff, whether recorded in 2018 or 1997 or whatever, but excepting Common’s drums (a differentiating factor), there’s nothing that’s moved this exact sound beyond what similar acts were doing those twenty-some years ago. My comment about Bayles: his mix absolutely captures that old school Powerman 5000, brawling, clear-edged style, but it feels like there could’ve been more oomph added to this by playing the guitars and keys off each other more. Instead, we’re always just favoring one layer. That is, again, very true to the style Storm of Light are playing to; I just wish something a little less predictable could’ve been done.

The argument against that is exactly what I said, though: Anthroscene is true to what the band wants it to be. Measured specifically on those metrics, it’s a success, though even if it had dropped in ’97, we’d be saying “the drums are awesome, but what else ya got?”