Drudenhaus

France's Anorexia Nervosa are one of those more tolerable versions of a popular metal band that more people would like if certain elements were changed; in this case, Cradle of Filth. Anorexia Nervosa and Cradle of Filth share the bombastic symphonic extreme metal approach with lots of blastbeating and debauchery themed lyrics. What differences make AN more tolerable then? Well, the guitars are more prominent than the keyboards in the mix, the gothic elements are reduced, the black metal elements are much more dominant, there's no female singers, and the lead singer isn't Dani Filth (potentially a huge kicker for a lot of anti-Cradle people). Drudenhaus is the first album by Anorexia Nervosa I've listened to and though it isn't totally great, it still makes for a very entertaining listen.

Being more guitar focused helps Drudenhaus a lot. The production makes the whole mix sound loud, but the guitars' riffing sound really heavy as a result. The riffs are still easy to follow making a lot of the songs here catchy and memorable occasionally breaking into epic sounding leads like in "A Doleful Night in the Thelema". And I'm glad the guitars are given this much presence in a symphonic metal album because a big mistake a lot of bands of this genre make is lowering the volume of the guitars to make their keyboards more prominent while also writing really uninspired riffs. Anorexia Nervosa make neither mistake here on Drudenhaus.

That said, with the keys more of a background instrument, they largely don't do anything for Drudenhaus; they're just there. For the most part, they just add another layer of noise while the guitars do all the work. The exceptions are "The Drudenhaus Anthem", "Dirge and Requiem For My Sister Whore", "Das ist Zum erschiessen schön", and "The Red Achromance" where they do have a fitting presence while still allowing the guitars to have a prominent position. But on the other songs, they simply exist without really sounding great, though not totally awful either.

The mixture of loud riffs, keyboards furious blastbeats, and Nicolas Saint-Morand's vocals makes for a really bombastic sounding album. However, there is some control within all the songs with the slower sections that occur at least once per song. These sections are often the high point of the songs and without them this album would be a lot worse.

Drudenhaus isn't perfect, but it sure is damn fun to listen to which is a praise worthy quality in its own right. While it isn't the most groundbreaking black metal release, it's well put together and presents itself really nicely. Symphonic black metal fans will like it and it works really well as a Cradle of Filth substitute for those of you looking for one. Most of the good parts about them are present without most of the bad.

Anorexia Nervosa has been the piece de resistance of French extreme metal for a number of years, releasing a number of albums to make them synonymous with the best of symphonic black metal. Long after Cradle of Filth’s fall to mediocrity, AN has not compromised in the slightest.

As is generally the case in symphonic BM, the keyboards feature predominantly on “Drudenhaus”. Feeling very medieval and unmistakably French, the keyboards and other symphonic elements are central to the moods and ideas of the music. “Drudenhaus” features excellent composition of aforementioned keys which carries the theme well, ensuring natural progression and timely denouement. Upon hearing the album initially, Anorexia Nervosa’s sound seems chaotic and relentless. The raging vocals, refreshing for the genre, add to this, bombarding the listener with intense aggression. “Drudenhaus” is sure to develop past its first impression, however, and it becomes more rewarding with every listen. The music is very complex in structure and composition, and must be experienced repeatedly to reach its full value.

The guitars, although second to the keyboards, are distinctly black metal, very tight and well-written. Fast-paced and energetic, the guitars feature many tremolo riffs and aggressive power-chords. Generally, identical notes are played by both guitars, keeping harmony to a minimum. Various palm-mutes and riffs compliment the keyboards well, and although there is a definite formula to the guitar composition, the guitars never become monotonous. Bass does not feature as prominently however, and it doesn’t seem to contribute much to “Drudenhaus”.

The drumming on Anorexia Nervosa’s music is very underrated. The drums on “Drudenhaus” continue this trend, with excellent tone and production that is very fitting. The double-bass is incredible, and the various blasts and double-times are perfectly executed. Sadly, in typical symphonic black metal fashion, the drums are just barely there, being over-powered by other instruments, and having a non-intrusive drum tuning to divert the attention away from itself. AN could do with some aggressive drums to drive the music more forcefully.

The vocals here certainly aren’t typical black metal. Where comparable bands emulate a Cradle of Filth sound, or stay with general high shrieks, AN has a particularly furious sound. The screams are more about emotional delivery than stayed technique, feeling sincere and unique. The vocal style is not as cold or high-pitched as average black metal, but rather slightly deeper and much heavier. Some sections of the delivery even hint to Anaal Nathrakh, with indomitable rage and raw emotion. In short, the vocals are fantastic, genuinely different to the rest of the genre.

This album is drastically different to anything comparable and is well worth checking out, with extended attention. Definite highlights are “Das Ist Zum Erschiessen Schon” and “Enter the Church of Fornication”, two raging anthems of riot and revolt. However, as a thematic idea, ”Drudenhaus” is best experienced as a whole. This is a thoroughly enjoyable album recommendable to any symphonic BM fan looking for something different to CoF or Dimmu Borgir.

This album, as well as this band, are the pinnacle of symphonic black metal, or even symphonic metal in general. For people who consider Dimmu Borgir, or CoF Symphonic BM, "Drudenhaus" by Anorexia Nervosa is required listening, being that it will completely change your perception of what "symphonic" actually is. Also, Anorexia Nervosa take "true" Black Metal and drive it with an orchestra, there is no gothic vampire melodrama to be found on this album.

At its core, the synthesized orchestra is the focal instrument on each track, and the guitars take a back seat. Anorexia Nervosa pull this off perfectly, and I can honestly say this is the main reason why this album is amazing, in my opinion. Every song sounds elegant and sweeping, but brutal and chaotic at the same time. Hreidmarr's vocals fit the mood and style extremely well, and are very unique among the pool of BM screeches and growls. Guitar work is good, not really exceptional or moving, but it does contribute to the violent atmosphere of each song. Drumming is also solid, but tom rolls tend to sound muddy and bad. This is really the only flaw with this albums production. It is also worth pointing out that good production IS needed to make a proper symphonic BM album, so don't be drawn away by the decent production, it is completely necessary. As a matter of fact, if this album had shitty production it could possibly be completely unlistenable.

Every time I play this album, I picture it being the soundtrack to brutal torture conducted by a sadistic libertine amongst the walls of an old French chateau. Drudenhaus has an extremely violent sound, and is very loud and abrasive, but hauntingly beautiful at the same time. A perfect example of this is the track "The Drudenhaus Anthem". It contains a very bombastic and sweeping keyboard intro, and then it descends into brutal BM chaos. Towards the middle of the song, the chaos stops and a plodding orchestral melody starts, with Hreidmarr chanting his verse, and then.......the most manic, violent and utterly murderous piece of music erupts, with Hreidmarr singing in french, and all hell breaking loose. "The Drudenhaus Anthem" is by far the best track on the album, with the haunting march of "Divine White Light Of A Cuming Decadence" and the explosive wall of noise "The Red Archomance" following close behind.

All in all, this is an amazing album, and something very unique. It is probably some of the most listenable original BM I have ever heard, and is a must for anyone who is either bored of traditional BM or new to BM entirely. BM purists tend to dislike Anorexia Nervosa, but its probably not because of their sound....(look at the member photos). I can also say that this is AN's best album, and it should definitely be your first listen if you are new to this band. Also, as far as I know, "Drudenhaus" and another AN album "New Obscurantis Order", are available on Itunes for $5.99 each, quite a bargain!

Anorexia Nervosa – Drudenhaus

Majestic, full Black Metal. A lot of Black Metal outfits try to be “moody” with the keyboards, and it just ends up sounding goofy. Keyboards are used by these guys to tremendous effect though. Easily one of my favorite Black Metal bands, and the keyboards are the reason. Black Metal sometimes sounds thin, and the keyboards fill it out nicely. Moving, complex parts too, not just one droning minor chord after another.

‘The Drudenhaus Anthem’ is a good example of keyboards carrying melody and mood simultaneously. This track sounds like a carnival ride gone horribly, horribly wrong, and is fantastic.

Hreidmarr on vocals is amazing. A bit higher pitched that some vocalists, but not nasally. He seems to have left the band through, which is too bad. Black Metal suffers most in the area of good vocals, in my opinion. ‘The Red Archromance’ is easily my favorite track. Simply everything I want in a Black Metal track, vocal-wise. Clean vocals too, answering the burning question “How cool is Black Metal sung in French?” Answer: Pretty cool.

Not much in the way of guitar solos. Bit of one on ‘Dirge and Requiem’. A good thing, otherwise the tracks would sound too busy. Also, this is such unpretentious Melodic Black Metal, any solo work would be completely out of place. Anorexia Nervosa’s sound just doesn’t allow for it.

Still a little treble heavy with the mixing, which is typical to Black Metal. All in all, ‘Drudenhaus’ comes highly recommended from me.

Hailing from France, Anorexia Nervosa is a band who plays melodic Black Metal in the style of other contemporaries such as Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. "Drudenhaus" is the first full-length album with singer 'Hreidmarr' and keyboardist 'Neb Xort' and it is quite a change from the bands last album 'Exile" The most obvious and noticeable difference is the addition of the keyboards. The first thing you notice on the album is the beautiful orchestrated sound on "A Doleful Night in Thelma", this sound returns on nearly all of the albums songs and helps set the band apart from other black metal bands in the scene today. The albums second song "The Drudenhaus Anthem" again includes the same orchestrated sound, but tends to sound somewhat familiar to "A Doleful Night in Thelma" still good nonetheless.

The strangely titled "God Bless the Hustler" slows down a bit from the previous songs and it features great orchestration and haunting vocals, it is one of the albums best songs. "Enter the Church of Fornication" starts off with a church sounding organ and picks up the pace of the album again, "Tragedia Dekadencia" is quite fast, and features a minute long keyboard interlude, "Divine White Light of a Cuming Decadence" is a kind of let down, with very annoying vocals, nothing memorable here. The last three songs "Dirge And Requiem for My Sister Whore" "Das Ist zum Erschiessen Schön" and "The Red Archromance" all sound similar but are still good.

What must be remembered about 'Anorexia Nervosa' is that the keyboards play the main melody of the music and pretty much dominate the sound, the guitar usually just helps keep the beat along with the drums and bass. I would recommend this album to anyone who is interested in electronic avant-gardish black metal, many do not like the sound keyboards in their black metal and to those people stay away!

The albums best songs are: "A Doleful Night in Thelma" "The Drudenhaus Anthem" and "God Bless the Hustler"