Welsh death metal outfit ANTERIOR have finally returned after four long years with a new album and a follow up to their superb debut album, ‘This Age of Silence’. ‘Echoes of The Fallen’ is the title for this new collection of material, and the first thing as with so many successful debut albums, does it live up to its predecessor?

The simple answer is an absolute hell yeah! In fact, it’s hard to believe this is only ANTERIOR‘s second album, as they have grown so much in the four years. ‘Echoes of The Fallen’ has a more technical side to it than ‘This Age of Silence’. There is still plenty of those crunching riffs and outstanding solo’s thrown in for good measure that ANTERIOR do so well, with the likes of opening numbers ‘To Live Not Remain’ and ‘Blood In The Throne Room’ being classic examples of this.

One of the best tracks here is ‘Tyranny’, and like the title, it’s a tyrannical and brutal rampage mixed with some metalcore traits to produce a beast of a number which would go down an absolute storm live. As with their last album, you get a melodic approach at times throughout the album which interchanges with the other faster than light segments seamlessly and with so much ease, it’s like second nature to them.

Luke Davies vocals are scintillating once again, and have even improved, as his harsh growls fluctuate to match the tempo and style of the music at the time. This is especially obvious between the brutal and more melodic segments. ‘Sleep Soundly No More’ is a classic ANTERIOR number, and this is a prime example of the dual guitar attack of Leon Kemp and Steven Nixon at its best. Their crushing riffs and interplay is astonishing and you can’t help but admire their guitar work.

‘Echoes of The Fallen’ finishes as strongly as it starts with ‘Venomous’ being a sheer relentless all out barrage attack at break neck speed, with a stunner of a solo contained within it too. Let’s not forget drummer James Cook, who pulverizes his kit at times with great aplomb and keeps each track flowing nicely along with bassist James Britton.

Overall, ‘Echoes of The Fallen’ is a great listen from start to finish, and there is plenty to keep to the listener encaptivated, I mean you just try not to headbang during the brutal segments or play air guitar to the solos. You just can’t help it! This is right up there with their debut album and also as one of the best albums of the year so far. After experiencing some of their new material at Sonisphere this year, I can safely say that they will kill live, so get your asses down to see them when they tour with SYLOSIS come the end of September/beginning of October.

Rating: 4.9/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks