I don’t often get excited about Greatest Hits albums but for Anthem’s new album Nucleus I will make an exception. See Anthem are probably one of the most successful bands that you have never heard of.
A stalwart in the Japanese metal scene Anthem have never really found the success in other countries of the world that they truly deserve. Now thought the band have signed to Nuclear Blast and their first offering is a Greatest Hits compilation that sees the band perform all of their hits in English… and boy what a discovery it will be if you have never had the pleasure of listening to these guys before.
Listening to Nucleus makes you realise that had this band been based in the USA or Europe their music would be all over most hard rock stations and many of their tracks would have become anthems thoughout the years.
You take a listen to a track like ‘Immortal Bind’ and you could be excused for thinking that you are listening to KISS. Then there are catchy tracks like ‘Overload,’ ‘Stranger’ and ‘Venom Strike’ all tracks that are so catchy they should have become anthems for fans of heavy music right around the world. That is further rammed home when you take an in-depth listen to what makes some of these tracks so great. The gruff vocals from Yukio Morikawa and big melodies of ‘Eternal Warrior’ and the screeching guitars of Akio Shimizu on ‘Echoes In The Dark’ showcase a band that an instrumentally superior to a lot of bands that have gone further than them during their careers. That is certainly shown on ‘Omega Man’ that is instrumentally perfect.
For those unaware of Anthem or for someone that wants to gets to know a band that deserves some respect then take a listen to Nucleus… you won’t be disappointed.
