‘Anatomical Venus’ is Black Moth’s first album on new label Candlelight Records and their third overall. Produced by Andy Hawkins (Hawk Eyes, Maximo Park) and mixed by the legendary Russ Russell (Dimmu Borgir), ‘Anatomical Venus’ sees the band further honing their song-writing skills to deliver ten, tightly focused tracks over just forty-five minutes. Drawing upon a wide-range of influences over the course of the record, Black Moth remain a difficult band to pin down, and whilst ‘Anatomical Venus’ may be the heaviest record of the band’s career to date, it also piles on the melody, giving the record an accessible edge that seems likely to gain them more fans than ever.
Kicking off with the lengthy ‘Istra’, Black Moth swagger into view with a track that brings to mind the Yeah Yeah Yeahs back when they dealt in swirling garage rock, singer Harriet Hyde’s seductive tones washed in a well of reverb as the band lay gargantuan, lysergic riffs at her feet. Melodic it may be, but the band have riffs and to spare and, as the track reaches its epic conclusion, so Jim Swainston and Federica Gialanze are ready with one last, towering riff to bring the piece home. It’s heavy as hell, and some may even call it metal, but it’s very much bent to Black Moth’s will and, from the very start, they sound like no one so much as themselves. The album’s lead single, ‘Moonbow’, is almost too sumptuous to take in in one go. Heroic riffing, pounding percussion, glorious vocals that tow the line between spark and melody and a solo that is destined to sett air guitarists off everywhere, it’s pretty much the epitome of a classic hard rock track and it’s liable to be the band’s calling card for years to come. That is, of course, if the surging might of ‘sisters of the stone’ doesn’t get there first. Edging between a grueling Sabbath groove and an early P J Harvey punk vibe, ‘sisters of the stone’ is one of those tracks that slips effortlessly into the psyche, feeling both intimately familiar and yet thrillingly new at the same time. The album takes a slinky turn on ‘Buried hoards’ which opens with neatly intertwined guitars before heading in a direction that recalls Drain STH with its minor-key vocal gently abraded with distortion. However, it is the sinister ‘severed grace’ that, after all that has gone before, still manages to emerge as a highlight with its deft mix of melody and menace. With its carefully woven harmonies and bludgeoning riffs, ‘severed grace’ is pretty much a summation of Black Moth’s impressive array of strengths boiled down into one almighty piece of music.
Having taken the listener down a dark alleyway on ‘severed grace’, Black Moth promptly dish out the inevitable beating at the far end with the pristine groove of ‘A lover’s hate’, a fast-paced track that leaves the listener bruised and breathless in the face of the Sabbath-loving ‘screen queen’. Another example of a band making good use of dynamic to lend greater weight to their punches, the sludgy might of ‘screen queen’ is all the better for emerging from its faster, meaner forebear, and the riff that closes it out speaks of earthquakes and seismic disruption, such is its primitive power. In contrast, ‘tourmaline’ is the sort of atmospheric hard rock track that L7 would throw into albums, just to throw their listeners off-balance. Edgy and nervous, it seems innocent enough, but there’s a threat ever-looming under the surface of Harriet’s sweet vocal and when the chorus does explode, it feels crushingly inevitable. There are many things to love about the dark fire of ‘a thousand arrows’, but what stand out the most are the harmonised lead guitars which really add emotional weight to an already impressive song. Here, more than anywhere else, the solos cry and moan, and they bring considerable emotional heft to the piece. The album concludes with the vibrant ‘pig man’ and it’s a belter. The band have clearly learned much from their live outings and as they lay down sludgy riffs strewn with the wreckage of blistering feedback, it’s easy to see this astheir encore – one final chance to leave the audience entirely in thrall to the Black Moth sound. A track that once more taps into the energy and aggression of the mid-90s alternative scene, ‘pig man’ is the antidote to any number of over-produced records that sacrifice passion on the altar of perfection, and it leaves the listener in awe at the band’s casual ability to carve out anthems of such soul-shattering power.
Although I’ve had the privilege of seeing Black Moth in the flesh on several occasions, little prepared me for just how good ‘Anatomical Venus’ could be. A searing album that ebbs and flows perfectly over its svelte, forty-five-minute run time, it sees the band ruthlessly pare back their material to its very essence and, in the process, they have crafted an enduring classic. Make no mistake, Black Moth’s work to date has led to this one magnificent moment and this album has cemented their legacy as one of the great bands to have emerged this decade. Canny enough to reference the past without slavishly aping it, Black Moth draw from a deep well of inspiration and ‘Anatomical Venus’ is the endlessly brilliant result. 10
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