Don’t you just love it when an album comes out of the blue with an almighty wallop that forces the listener to just hit pause for a second and take it in. You’re only on the first track but it’s laid down a colossal gauntlet to start and Brighton’s Anacondas do this with Sub Contra Blues (Prosthetic Records).
The three-piece have delivered a debut full-length to write home about here, being crushingly heavy and unabashedly melodic and catchy all at the same time, towing that difficult line to effect as juddering sludge and angular noisecore meet grunge influences and even Jesu-like droning passages on Sub Contra Blues for a serious melting pot of sounds that, while disparate, coalesce beautifully into one cohesive record.
With just eight tracks, Anacondas hold you in their coiled grasp, first with the crushing sludgy doom and dreamy vocals of opener ‘Moon On Fire’. From there, the band ups the pace and intensity as the riffs become more angular and vocals more fevered. There’s a strong flavour of KEN Mode that can be picked up here from time to time like ‘Cold Blooded Warm Heart’ and ‘High Horse’. The title track and ‘The Witches’ sees the band enter altogether more melodic modes, exhibiting the band’s flair for flirting with dark and light shades, all the while still maintaining a dense heaviness and sludgy undertone.
‘This Night Will Last Forever’ closes the album off in stunning ebullience with walls of melodic guitars meeting some hefty low end, while utterly anthemic and memorable vocals rule the roost; the climax and conclusion of which is truly something special, ending Sub Contra Blues in a sublime way. Anacondas deserve much praise for this record, especially considering that it’s a debut and with any justice, it will garner the right attention for the band and stick out from the crowd.
8/10
Jonathan Keane