Review by Greg on April 24, 2026.

Hot on the heels of the striking debut "Dark Paradise", as well as a similarly powerful EP ("The Puppeteers") released shortly after, Los Angeles' own Anubis are now on their second full-length. As much as their release pace might make them look like an unstoppable and relentless recording machine, this new "Anthromorphicide" actually came after a significant lineup revamp, now featuring six members – with just three remaining from the previous album – and even recruiting an additional vocalist in Hanna Preston, sharing duties with mastermind Devin Reiche.

As such, it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that we're dealing with a different beast this time. "Anthromorphicide" is generally a darker album than, well, one with that adjective in its title. The artwork is a clear hint, and you can take the opener 'Nuclear Dawn' and the title track as further examples, as in both cases the vocal hooks are less immediate, and instead let the lead guitars take the spotlight. This is especially true of the former, whose solo takes up half of the song's playing time and goes through approximately a dozen tempo changes. 'Ancient At Birth' is the only track with a keyboard solo, much like 'Thy Frozen Throne' back then, but whereas that one was a flowery, sugary Europower-esque number – highly gimmicky perhaps, but just as fun – this one is once again more ferocious fare, even with some lugubrious bell tolls punctuating its main riff. While Anubis did flirt with growled vocals in the past, as 'Devour' easily showcases, the addition of Preston ups the ante in this regard, and she's quite impressive at that.

Regarding 'Ancient At Birth', I also appreciated its final chorus being sung an octave lower instead of higher, which is a refreshing choice. In keeping with these bold moves, not placing it as the album's closer is also peculiar. This one, though, doesn't make a lot of sense. Granted, it might be that, by now, we're used to finding a slower, longer, and more epic song as the final one; but, come on, its (memorable) chorus even reprises a line from the opener ('This dawn must bring a day of reckoning', from the pre-chorus)! Instead, there's still 'Battalion', which is the kind of song that would perfectly fit in the middle of the tracklist – short, energetic, with nothing wrong per se, but also a less remarkable ending for the album.

To clarify, it's not that Anubis have suddenly turned into Nevermore, or that they've lost their innate knack for blending riffy, breakneck thrash with singalong-y power. You can clearly hear it in the one-two punch of 'Celestial' and 'Arcanist' (especially the latter, with a neat 'Strife'-like refrain), or later in 'Reptile Eyes', and it's still a blend that isn't attempted very often, let alone nailed as well as they do. The consistency is once again enviable, but "Anthromorphicide" allows itself a couple of deviations towards both ends. On one side, 'Fanged Angel' borders on death metal, almost entirely carried by Preston's growls – a scorcher I'd nonetheless have appreciated more if it came from a different band – while on the other there's 'The Fire Inside', a sappy half-ballad that might bring to mind Dragonforce's softest moments. It's... bound to be polarizing, that's for sure. Many will flat out hate it, and its early placement does the album no great favours (not unlike 'Meant To Be' on the latest Testament), while I'm just left puzzled by its ending, with an ill-fitting heavier second chorus and an... a cappella coda. Traumatic.

There's another issue which, to be completely honest, was already present on "Dark Paradise" – although the sheer infectiousness of the vocal parts more than made up for it – and that is Reiche's tendency to layer himself multiple times almost constantly, which can get tiring and, especially in the case of 'The Fire Inside', frustrating. It's almost as if I had trouble identifying a melodic line to follow, because there are two or three competing with each other, for a rather chaotic effect. What's more, now there's also a layer of growls in the background, often, and Preston falls victim to the same sin in her lone clean episode ('My Favourite Cage' – not a cover of The Cardigans, if you were wondering).

I'm sure this will be the toughest review of the whole year for me, simply because I still don't quite know what to make of "Anthromorphicide". My initial impression told me that Anubis themselves were convinced that "Dark Paradise" was just an unrepeatable, once-in-a-lifetime fluke, and so they just took another path altogether. On the other hand, this is clearly the sound of a band branching out and expanding their boundaries, and don't we all love that? Okay, wrong question. I do, though. Somebody on YouTube commented below 'Fanged Angel' (chosen as one of the advance singles, to reaffirm their rationale), regretting that the band had now lost its uniqueness, but when you stop to think about it, they've actually added more elements to their sound, and it's been a logical evolution overall. True, it didn't grip me as tightly as "Dark Paradise" did, but in hindsight I was setting myself up for disappointment on this front. For better or worse, I've been humming almost all the songs here in the past month or so, so by all means that's a win in my book. Now I'm even more curious to see where they'll go from here.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Greg on May 8, 2026.

Ah, Poland. As a metalhead, I often associate it with quality stuff – there's just so much of it coming out of the country, both in the past and currently. As such, I'm pleased to add Abuser from Wroclaw to this elite. The guys aren't your typical up-and-coming thrash band, having recorded their first demo back in 2019. Nevertheless, they seemed destined to fade into obscurity since that, before bursting back onto the scene with debut full-length "Blood Marks". There's a certain charm to the chronophotographic artwork, which is not something you see every day, but what piqued my interest were the lineup additions of guitarist Albert Matuszny and especially drummer Jakub Klimkiewicz, whom I was acquainted with via their main band Leprozorium, following a recommendation from fellow obscure thrash connoisseur Olivér.

Unsurprisingly, the drumming is what stood out to me the most, just like the first time I heard "Skaza Ludzkości". I like to picture Klimkiewicz as the Polish equivalent to Charlie Benante, Gammacide's Jamey Milford, or, perhaps even more accurately, Brann Dailor if he were to play thrash metal. There's snare and tom fills all over the place – so much so that I suspect he needed to replace them after recording each song – at times even breaking into mini drum solos, yet he keeps a strict and tight rein on the tempo at all times. Comparisons like the above aren't common enough, so this is why this man never fails to leave a good impression on me. Whether you like this hyperactive approach or not, I'm all for it. For the rest, Abuser are complete thrash devotees – way more aggressive than the norm, but still without leaving much room for external influences. So, as much as I'd have liked to compare "Blood Marks" to the latest Desolus (the fact that I've been listening to both in short order didn't help), underneath the frontal aggression and the drums' lightning-fast pace the foundation is way more American than German. It's hard not to hear a Slayer influence in the riffs and even in some of the noisier – although generally more competent – solos, as shown by the deflagrating opener 'Cry Of The Innocent' already, or perhaps even more in the 'Mandatory Suicide'-like spoken coda of 'Fin De Siècle'. Accordingly, the vocals of frontman Paweł Dominiak (formerly in blackened thrashers Hexenaltar, due for their debut album soon, as well) are more of the low-register, rapid-fire screaming variety, rather than just aiming for prime Mille Petrozza. He isn't a particularly distinctive vocalist by any means, but he's also convincing at what he does, so I can live with that.

The aforementioned 'Fin De Siècle' marks the strategic halfway point, as it's the only episode where the tempo has a chance to slow down for more than 30 seconds. Quite the contrary, as Klimkiewicz still has the necessary tricks to keep it interesting. It is then mercilessly wiped away by some rather frantic songs, all between 2 and 3 minutes, which are about as friendly as a pitbull trained for cage fights, but also lack the longer and slower-burning arrangements of the opening trio ('Cry Of The Innocent', 'Suspended In Torture', title track), partially reprised only in the band's namesake anthem. All of which means I'm of two minds about "Blood Marks", as it's a great start and its sheer power is undeniably top-notch, but it also can't shake the feeling that it had the potential to be even more than that. Overall, it's certainly worthy of being in my list of warm recommendations for anybody already into the genre, although it certainly won't change the minds of those who are skeptical about the value of newer bands. Nevertheless, as the old saying goes: 'if it's 36 minutes long and flattens everything in its path, neither complain nor waste your wrath'. Or how was it?

Rating: 7.6 out of 10