Anorexia Nervosa - The September EP (Listenable Records)

I listen to black metal. I feel like this is going to turn into some sort of twelve step program. Yes, the costumes and makeup are ridiculous. Yes, the church burning and the pursuit of being the blackest of the black are laughable at best. But once you get past the theatrics it’s just blast beats with keyboards. Blast beats with keyboards that are more vile than sodomy. Just ask Euronymous. Anyway, this EP consists of three covers (Forbidden Site, Darkthrone and X Japan tunes), four live tracks, and a fitting remix of “Sister September” originally off of Redemption Process. The live version of “Stabat Mater Dolorosa” comes across as more raw than its recorded counterpart, while my ears found the remix of “Sister September” negligible. I liked “I’ll Kill You” because it sounds like Finntroll. But seriously, if you like sharply dressed men who take a few cues from Akercocke’s corpse-paint-in-suits formula, can get past the lack of ‘brutal’ low-fi production championed by ‘true’ black metalists and actually enjoy melody, then give this a listen. But don’t ‘true’ black metalists only make ambience? No? Okay, enough Count Grisnackh references for one review. Go support the French.

- Tyler Mooreshroom