Black Anvil

Triumvirate (Relapse)
By Mike Delano

The phrase “NYC-based black metal” might conjure images in your mind of a hipster-heavy, irony-fueled disaster, but luckily for us, Black Anvil is for real. Maybe not for real in the Mayhem sense, but at least inside the wider borders of the world of metal, they’re true to the game. Their sound is cold and calculated: This trio isn’t a slave to the numbing blastbeats and steady shrieking of the genre – they’ve got those, but they’re used only as necessary in service to a more interesting, nuanced approach. The band is interested in creating songs as much as they are moods, so if things need to slow down a bit here, and a soulful solo needs to go in there, then so be it. “Angels to Dust” is a dark, swirling vortex, and “Dead and Left” locks into a killer groove that’s as memorably creepy as the best Slayer slow-burners. False metal this ain’t.
(www.relapse.com)