Classic Album Review - Anaal Nathrakh - In the Constellation of the Black Widow (2009)

Jan 27

Jan 27 Classic Album Review - Anaal Nathrakh - In the Constellation of the Black Widow (2009)

British black metal icons Anaal Nathrakh are one of the most revered extreme metal bands in history and their seminal, unassailable 2009 record In the Constellation of the Black Widow has a lot to do with it. It is, to my knowledge, the most intense and extreme music’s ever been made while trying to articulate a complex and ambitious artistic vision that went beyond : GUUUURHHHH GUUUUURH GUH. It’s one of these wonderful records that never ages and that never fails to make me feel great.

Today, I want to share with you my appreciation of this * ahem * MASTERPIECE (I don’t like to say this word online) so that the world can know this album exists. Because whoever you are, what you think of In the Constellation of the Black Widow means something about you.

This 34 minutes nuclear weapon of a record starts off with the furious, but rather conventional title song. Past the ambient intro featuring the rasps of damned soul and slow, heavy riffs, it has the very recognizable shriek, clean, shriek vocal pattern that makes the band’s sound so unique and vivid. It also has a gorgeous Judas Priest-inspired solo towards the end. But In the Constellation of the Black Widow delves into total audio insanity with the second song I Am the Wrath of Gods and the Desolation of the Earth.

This scorcher is barely two and a half minutes long, but it’s one of my favourite songs ever records. Dave Hunt's delivery on it is absolutely fucking batshit insane. It's breathy, raspy, most likely a little distorted too. At some point he stops pronouncing words and just starts moaning and shrieking like someone being tortured by demons. Anger and pain swirl in his voice like glycerol and nitric acid being mixed. It’s a glorious ,empowering monolith to anyone's darkest, most noxious feelings.

More Of Fire Than Blood is another immortal. Mick Kenney has a more melodic approach to his riffs, which leaves more breathing room to Hunt's polyphonic approach to shine. Seriously, he signs in three or four style in there. The Unbearable Filth of the Soul is a more industrial-inspired number with an intro that is now without reminding of Dimmu Borgir's Puritania. Choppy, chuggy riffs, loose grindcore bridges and even more singing styles by Dave Hunt who ranges between slam gurgles and pained screams.

Terror in the Mind of God (the song titles are killer, I know) reaches deeper into the grindcore and death metal influences. It’s one of the fastest song on the record after I Am the Wrath of Gods and the Desolation of the Earth. A purposeful audio storm with the straighfordwardness of punk and a level of anger without precendent. It segues almost seemlessly into its sister song So Be It, where Hunt sings the verses in latin and the chorus in english. It has some of the catchiest guitar work on the record.

What differentiates a band like Anaal Nathrakh from other purveyor of boundary-breaking audio extreme is really their imagery and storytelling they manage to convey as efficiently through lyrics, delivery and music all at the same time. A song like The Lucifer Effect is a great example of adept Hunt and Kenney are at creating nuance and dynamics within their whirlwind of chaos. Alternating galloping riffs and relentless blast beats with slow, chuggy sections creates atmosphere without compromising.

Another favourite of mine on this record is the disgustingly named Oil Upon The Stores of The Lepers, which starts with this badass choppy, sequenced riffs before transitioning into this swelling, operatic section that explore the sliver of humanity in this cosmic monster. It’s the proggiest song on the record, but not in an annoying, self-serving way. It’s multi-segmented and feels like a journey of apocalyptic violence, which segues into another one of my all-time favorites Satanachrist.

This is a more straightforward song than its predecessor on the track list and perhaps the most conventionally black metal song on the record, but that still shines through by alternating the tremolo picking riffs with the vocal passages, which are delivered with a more cinematic mid-tempo riffs. It gives the song such cool and unique dynamics. No idea if it's a cover of the Venom song, but it's a re-recording from Anaal Nathrakh’s almighty demo Total Fucking Necro.

Of course, this review wouldn’t be complete without discussing the glorious closer Blood Eagles Carved On the Backs of Innocents. I love the distortion and gain put on the voice of Dave Hunt here. It’s absolutely shameless and it achieves this demonic effect to perfect. It also features some of Mick Kenney's coolest, most creative guitar work, interweaved with passages that are more traditionally black metal. The song explodes into uncharted territory periodically and remains unpredictable at all times.

I have really, really little bad to say about In the Constellation of the Black Widow. I would’ve loved if it leaned harder into its more original and innovative elements at times, but that's it. It’s one of the few albums along perhaps Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss and God Hates Us All and Mayhem's Wolf’s Lair Abyss that makes me feel physically good when I listen to it. This is not every day music. This is what I call rainy day music, but I'm really glad this album exists for me when I need it.

I’m glad that the sounds that I heard inside my head exist somewhere else in the world. It makes me feel empowered and less alone to hear them, like I belong to an army that not only can withstand unspeakable forces, but that can also appreciate them. Anaal Nathrakh might call it quits in the following months because the pandemic fucked their career plans, but we’ll always have records like The Codex Necro and In the Constellation of the Black Widow to go back to. Their music is immortal.