Anomalie - Riverchild (2024)

Delivering waves of crafty Post-Black Metal, today we have Austria’s Anomalie and their latest effort “Riverchild”. Keeping things simple, catchy, and polished, this release unleashes nine tracks and over 50 minutes of intense music filled with melody. Far from your traditional Post-Black/Progressive Black Metal outfit, this one-man band is hard to describe as it explores different aural palettes with a hefty foundation of Black Metal elements.

Opening with “Mothers of Stars”, an hypnotic offering filled with crafty vocal arrangements and incisive guitars, there are certain familiar elements from the band’s previous offerings with additional polish and refinements. Slowly building up in pace, “An Unforgiving Tale”, “Perpetual Twilight”, and the funky “Heart to Beat” give a more progressive feeling, similar to Enslaved’s current period, where clean vocals deliver engaging atmospheres while the harsh ones provide contrast as the music sets different moods and tempos.

The faster “Awakening” nicely brings the band’s harsh nature alongside their more melodic and tempered sprints, creating one of the best songs in this release. For those looking for the calmer and Doomier side of the band, the album title track has a darker edge with cathartic moments thanks to sharp guitar leads and very harmonious clean vocals. After the fierce “Among Shadows”, “A Cosmic Truth” is another one of the album’s standout tracks thanks to its ritualistic and engaging nature.

Overall, “Riverchild” is a very engaging and intricate release. Anomalie does an excellent job in creating a very layered effort that has a very diverse combination of influences. Always evolving, Marrok seems to enjoy experimenting with different styles and approaches to genre, and manages to create one hell of a release filled with interesting songs. If you are a fan of non-linear Black Metal and are not afraid of some additional melody and melancholy, as well as weirdness, check out this release.

Label: AOP Records

Release: November 1st, 2024

Genre: Progressive/Post-Black Metal

Country: Austria