Anatomy of I is a progressive metal band out of Rotterdam,
Holland consisting of members from various other projects including Houwitser,
Haecceity, and Bleeding Gods. Their album "Substratum" initially released in
September of 2011 was reissued on the 25th of May, 2015.
Let me start by saying: this album is heavy. This is one of
the most forwardly heavy progressive metal bands I've listened to in a good
while. One thing I really like about these guys is that they have a way with
riffs. They have a tendency to develop their riffs toward a certain direction
until it's unrecognizable enough to become another completely separate riff, and
that's pretty cool. They'll do that or completely change what they’re doing all
together. That being said, most of the heavy lifting is being done by the
instrumentalists. Not because Dorrian is a bad vocalist, but because the vocals
seem to fall short of the incredibly involved work the instruments are doing. The constant life being brought to this album through the guitars, bass and
drums is enough to keep the music interesting, but it leaves a little bit to be
desired from the vocals. Screaming, like any other vocal form, can be very
dynamic and shapely, but here they just seem to be doing the same thing all the
time.
For the most part, the entire album is unrelentingly heavy,
only occasionally drifting away from that for the intro of "As Eternity Ends…" where there are some acoustic harmonics, and also in
"In Memoriam". "In
Memoriam" is a particularly noticeable change of pace from this album. This
song is odd on quite a few levels, though. It's the last song in the album, which
makes it unusual to me that it's suddenly completely different than the rest of
the songs. It's divided into two sections. The first that carries itself on a synth ostinato with a whole lot of guitar solo, then bass drums on a synth
string riff, then another solo on top of that. Then just like that, the album
is done. Perhaps, since the two tracks before it are reissues, "In Memoriam" is
its own standalone song that has nothing to do with the album. If that is the
case, then maybe this sudden change is more appropriate.
All-in-all, this is a pretty decent listen, if a little oddly
put together as far as the song order. I'd still definitely say this album is
worth giving a listen.
