Review by Krys on May 30, 2001.

What a coincidence? I just saw the "Jack the Ripper" movie and now I’m reviewing the latest, already sixth album from mighty Iced Earth "Horror Show". While the screen version of Jack sucked so much I had to open a bottle of Jack Daniel’s to get through it, I can’t say the same about the music version. "Horror Show" is not a concept album about Jack though. Each track is about a notorious monster of sorts, based on literature, film or a legend where Wolf, Jack, Mummy, Dracula and many others have their moments of glory.

Since their last studio album "Something Wicked This Way Comes", Schaffer and Co. had three years to work on every detail to make the "Horror Show" flawless, and believe me they did. Each song perfectly suites the mood of the character and creates an amazing effect of almost being a part of those horror events. Matthew Barlow... this guy is amazing. Without a question one of the best voices in heavy metal ever. This man gives me creeps. When for a first time I’ve heard the opening track "Wolf" his screams and vocal lines made my hair on my back rise. (Don’t laugh, I still have a few here and there!) Backed up by the rest of the outstanding crew with Jon Schaffer and Larry Tarnowski heading the way on the guitars, bass wiz Steve DiGiorgio (Death, Testament) and drum molester Richard Christy (Control Denied, Death), Iced Earth pushed themselves into the next level of creative and musical level. Given the subject of the current release most of the tracks are mid-tempo compositions which might come as a slight disappointment and while tracks like above-mentioned "Wolf" or "Jack" add much needed variety to the album’s tempo, in my opinion there’s just not enough of them. The "Ghost Of Freedom" only proves the point that the best ballads are written by metal bands and no one else comes even close. I’m not talking about music only, lyrics is the ingredient that sets them apart. Doesn’t "Here I’ll walk through the field where I died..." sound much better than "I’ll love you forever and ever..."?

Bottom Line: Tons of great music and subjects with well-written lyrics should satisfy metal fans of all styles and bring a whole new crowd of Iced Earth fans. There’s no excuse of not having this CD.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Krys on November 5, 2013.

What a debut! Can you imagine that after almost 50 years of metal you can still come up with unused original band name and sound? Who knew? Norway's Khonsu is a brainchild of guitarist S. Gronbech, brother of Keep of Kalessin guitarist Obsidian who by the way produced 'Anomalia' and taking that connection even further vocals are handled by KoK frontman Thebon. I'm not a religious man but let's pray that knowing the nature of this type of projects we'll see another release from these guys.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this almost perfect bland of industrial/avant-garde/progressive black metal. Don't let those tags scare you it's 'simply' a mix of Arcturus and post-Emperor Ihsahn. The variety of different styles, moods and tempo shifts is mind blowing but done with so much ease that it keeps 'Anomalia' as one cohesive unit. Brilliant strings sections ranging from raw black metal riffs to acoustics mold perfectly with layers of keyboards, industrial loops and what I feel the best vocal performance from Thebon who doesn't hold back and uses his full scale and tone.

'Anomalia' is a very strong debut and a must have for any fan of modern black metal. It's progressive without being too complex and industrial without too many sample loops and noises but at this same time keeps listener involved from first to the last note with ever-changing musical landscapes and tempos. And if Khonsu is just a side project of KoK and I won't hear from them again I'm going to stop listening to Norwegian metal… just kidding.
Seriously, this can only get better!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9 out of 10