ANTHEM – Nucleus

Japanese Traditional Metal legends Anthem are officially launching their attack on the rest of the planet with their new English language compilation album Nucleus. Considering that this is essentially a “best of” re-recorded album where the band has had a chance to curate their materiel for a foreign audience, audiences will have high expectations for this release. Fortunately, Anthem does not disappoint. Not only is this a lengthy release, featuring both a full studio and live album in one package, but the songs they have chosen are truly a great representation of their back catalog and Japanese Metal in general.

Although the lyrics are sung in English, frontman Yukio Morikawa does have a strong accent on some of the songs. This may be off-putting to some listeners, but aside from this negligible strike against Nucleus, the album is otherwise excellent. There are the speedy classics like “Venom Strike”, “Overload”, and “Pain” and then there are the more melodic mid-tempo rockers like “Awake” and “Ghost In The Flame”. Thanks to “Omega Man” there’s even an instrumental track for the guitar fans.

Nuclear Blast Records seems to be a strong supporter of this release with the promotion of several videos, ranging from official music videos to lyric videos and even pro-shot live performances. Any Traditional Metal fan will enjoy this release and those who haven’t listened to many metal bands from Japan may be pleasantly surprised by Anthem.

TUNE INTO METALEXPRESSRADIO.COM at NOON & MIDNIGHT (EST) / 6:00 & 18:00 (CET) TO HEAR THE BEST TRACKS FROM THIS UPCOMING RELEASE!!!