Anthem - Bound To Break (1987) [2010, Japan SHM-CD, KICS-91174]

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Anthem - Bound To Break (1987) [2010, Japan SHM-CD, KICS-91174]

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Long running Japanese metallers, Anthem, made a very solid splash into the international metal circles with this album. I remember hearing the title track many years ago on my college radio station of choice's metal show and being very impressed with it. Listening to this again over 20 years after the fact reveals that this album is holding up pretty well and features some excellent tunes.

Chris Tsangarides' production is clear and just gritty enough to add to Anthem's thundering, vintage Judas Priest-inspired style–the title track, in fact, is very reminiscent of "Painkiller", funnily enough. To my surprise, the drum sound is not as humungous as 80s drum sounds grew to become, it's just right. There is enough American influence in the music, though, most notably in the big sing-along choruses, to catch the average listener's ear and be memorable. The guitar work has just enough technical proficiency to impress and features unabashedly melodic work as well, over a booming rhythm section that rumbles along in an unstoppable vein once it gets rolling.

A young Eizo Sakamoto sings his heart out as only he can on this album, with a slightly lower vocal style and sound than he currently features, and the lyrics are a mixture of mostly Japanese with the odd bit of Engrish for good measure, making for some both interesting, slightly cliched, and downright odd titles and lyrics–"Machine Made Dog"? Wonder what that one's about? So, on to the music…

The title track powers its way out of your speakers with a howling barrage of guitar whammy bar madness surging into a crunching verse riff that charges into the fray right alongside Sakamoto's raspy, gutsy vocals. The pre-chorus and chorus on this one are dramatic and exciting, too! "Empty Eyes" keeps up the metal with an uptempo double bass romp and another strong chorus that etches itself into your mind despite it mostly being in a foreign language. Other standouts include "Show Must Go On" (the sole English language tune that Tsangarides helped write, possibly due to the band's lack of English skills at the time, and Sakamoto is actually rather easy to understand on this one), which is a thick midtempo wall of riffing, and "Soldiers", another dramatic and actually rather moving tune.

Overall, this is a very well-crafted, well-produced album showing that metal and good music knows no language or national barriers. The songwriting is there, the musicianship is skilled, it's a shame that the language barrier probably kept more American fans from appreciating what Anthem had to offer. Too bad, 'cos these guys were and still are really good at what they do, no-frills melodic metal that is straight no chaser and just as good as any of their American counterparts. This is very worth downloading or seeking out in the used bin at your record shop, most definitely, so check it out if you can hang with 80s metal that features equal parts crunch and melody. You will not be disappointed, I think.

~ corviderrant, Metal-Archives

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Anthem - Bound To Break (1987) [2010, Japan SHM-CD, KICS-91174]

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Anthem (アンセム, Ansemu) is a Japanese heavy metal band that was formed during the early 1980s in Tokyo. They are among the handful of heavy metal bands founded in Japan during that time and are considered to be one of the most successful and influential, alongside Loudness and Earthshaker.

Early years (1981–1985)
Anthem was founded in Tokyo during 1981 as a quartet, composed of singer Toshihito Maeda, guitarist Akifumi Koyanagi, bass player Naoto Shibata(also known as "Ski") and drummer Takamasa Ohuchi. Koyanagi left in late 1983 to be replaced by Hiroya Fukada. In December 1984 vocalist Toshihito Maeda also left and Anthem drafted Eizo Sakamoto for their debut eponymous album, issued in July 1985 by Nexus and licensed to Europe via Roadrunner Records.

Success (1985–1992)
Their first studio release featured classic songs like 'Wild Anthem' and 'Warning Action'. The next release, Tightrope showcased a more catchy, melodic sound with an improved vocal performance by Eizo. Bound to Break was to be the last album featuring Eizo Sakamoto for nearly two decades, and was by far his most impressive vocal performance to that point. The album was full of classics (Empty Eyes, Bound to Break, Soldiers) and introduced the band's long-time world-famous producer, Chris Tsangarides (Perhaps best known for producing Judas Priest's classic 1990 album, Painkiller). With the departure of Eizo in 1988, Naoto recruited Yukio Morikawa to the band's vocal position. With Yukio came the album Gypsy Ways, considered the band's most enduringly popular album. Yukio's voice made the band a great success at that time and he was similar in style, vocal range and ability to Graham Bonnet. In 1989, the album Hunting Time was released and the song "The Juggler" was used as a PV. In the beginning of 90's Anthem dealt with another departure, this time Hiroya Fukuda (guitar) left and was replaced by Hideaki 'Shadow Walker' Nakama which recorded the album No Smoke Without Fire, this time without the band's staple producer / engineer Chris Tsangarides. Hideaki left the band after recording just the one album and the search for a new guitarist began.

Disbandment (1992–2000)
After many auditions, the young Akio Shimizu joined the band to replace Hideaki. In 1992, the band released Domestic Booty, one of their best albums, with amazing technical songs (courtesy of Akio): Venom Strike, Renegade, and The Dice of No Mercy. Unfortunately, classic-style heavy metal was out of fashion in the early 90's, and with the explosion of grunge in the U.S. and the Visual Kei movement in Japanese music, Naoto decided to put an end to the band. The members of Anthem followed the album's release with a very big tour covering many cities of Japan and finally they released the VHS/CD Last Anthem - Live recorded at Nissin Power Station, which was to be the band's last show for nearly eight years.

Reform (2000–present)
After the long hiatus, Anthem returned in 2000, with the album Heavy Metal Anthem which featured the vocalist Graham Bonnet (from Rainbow), the album is entirely composed by classic songs of the band rearranged with English lyrics. The lineup on Heavy Metal Anthem was: Graham Bonnet (vocals), Naoto Shibata (bass), Akio Shimizu (guitar) and Takamasa Oouchi (drums).

Later, Hirotsugu Homma (who had briefly played together with Shibata in Loudness replaced Takamasa on drums and Eizo returned to the vocals. In 2001, they released Seven Hills, showcasing an entirely new musical direction for the band, although still firmly rooted in 80s heavy metal. In 2002 came Overload, which is considered by most critics to be much more aggressive than Seven Hills. In 2003, the band recorded Live' Melt Down in Citta Club Kawazaki, with a setlist full of classics and an amazing[peacock term] performance by Eizo. In 2004 the band released the single "Onslaught" followed by the album Eternal Warrior, which continued in the same sound direction as Overload. In 2005, Anthem celebrated their twentieth year anniversary with a special tour, where all members of the band since 1985 played the band songs in their respective formations. At the final show of this tour was filmed the DVD "20th Anniversary Tour" (again at Club Citta in Kawazaki).

In 2006 Anthem released Immortal, followed by the single and PV of "Immortal Bind". The most recent output has seen Anthem push even further into the Power Metal-tinged style showcased on 'Domestic Booty' and Eternal Warrior with 2008's Black Empire. A PV of 'Heat of the Night' was released shortly after the album hit in November 2008 and has thus far garnered even more positive critical reviews than Immortal.

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Anthem - Bound To Break (1987) [2010, Japan SHM-CD, KICS-91174]

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Anthem - Bound To Break (1987) [2010, Japan SHM-CD, KICS-91174]

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