Review by Faithless on February 20, 2020.

When there is no more room in the depths of hell, Azanigin walks the earth! What a hell of an album we have here folks, really impressive, relentless and menacing band from the US. Rise Of The Adversary was released last year in an independent effort to revive the North American black metal scene. Bands like Judas Iscariot (showcasing a more European approach to black metal), Inquisition, Von and Profanatica were pioneers in the US black metal scene but seemed to dim with the years and even disappeared from the radar. But a new breed of demonic creatures from the underground are claiming their throne and Azanigin is one of them.

Hellfire worshipers and necromancers can rejoice with this record. The hellish atmosphere is backed up with relentless hammers behind the kit, constant attack of the guitars and infernal shrieks that resemble a cat being strangled (and I mean it in a good way). The production that Azanigin presents here is very archaic yet understandable one; it is not caveman black metal (no, it is not a Transylvanian Hunger clone) but still you can enjoy a profound nihilistic and misanthropic feeling in some guitar passages. Almost as if it is existentially introspective, giving you hypnotic, melancholic and dark melodic moments followed by blast beats that will rip your head off. You can evidence the previous description in songs like ‘Life of Eternal Pain’, ‘Our Final Moments’ and ‘Aeonic Transmissions’.
I think that the Rise Of The Adversary is a way to avoid saying “the rise of Satan”. It is a wise move to focus on a more necromantic/occult approach rather than going for the obvious clichés that most black metal bands adore. Refreshing the flame of black metal seemed to be one of the goals of Azanigin without falling into plagiarism and with a more original/trademark sound. For instance, tracks like ‘Agia H Azanigin’ and ‘Esoteric Implantations’ demonstrate a clear intention to create their own stuff yet taking influences from here and there. In other words, this band sounds authentic in concept and execution wise, you really feel the anger and wrath in each track.

Overproduced bands that only want to be a copycat of glorious legends are on their way to extinction. Underground acts like Azanigin are rising from the depths to claim their own spot in the scene with hard work and authenticity. Most of the record Rise Of The Adversary is riff oriented and driven by mixed feelings like melancholy, introspection, wrath, anger and misanthropy in a way that you drown in a sea of blasphemous brutality. The raw production also works in favor of the band’s musicianship and concept. I hope to hear a second full length in the future from Azanigin. Final words, go and support the underground!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Adam M on December 6, 2016.

Instrumental flourishes are on display with Animals as Leaders. The band does a good job conveying the particular mood that is desired. This is often a subtle mood that the music fills in appropriately.

Instrumentally, the music is heavily bass driven and features sporadic displays of musicianship on the part of the guitars. The music is certainly adventurous and features a lot of noodling that is held back from overindulgence by reasonably solid song-writing. As seen from the track Apeirophobia there is a possibility for flamenco guitars along with the standard instrumental displays that are common on The Madness of Many. The music is sporadic in nature and doesn’t hold to a specific mood at any particular juncture. This makes for a constantly changing variety of music quite nicely. The need to constantly evolve is what keeps this band above the typical instrumental music and puts Animals as Leaders into a realm that belongs to them. This distinctiveness present is largely why I prefer the band to other instrumental acts. Of course, there are issues with the style present. Memorable moments are hard to come by and last for very short junction of time. The music has a manner of gliding over the listener without making a huge impact. The funky bass lines draw people into the experience, but the lack of a standout characteristic in the guitars at times makes the music simply pass on by. The music doesn’t define itself as well as it should, but is very free form in nature.

People that like this open-ended style of performance will be very fond of the music, however. Fans of instrumental music should find something to love with The Madness of Many and other people vaguely interested in the genre should try the band as well as it may be an exciting new discovery.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10