Artist: Annotations of an Autopsy
Album: II: The Reign of Darkness
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast

Since their debut album Before the Throne of Infection in 2008, Annotations Of An Autopsy have made their way to the forefront of the UK metal scene and I never understood why. Moving on to 2010, they are nearing the release of their sophomore album II: The Reign of Darkness on Nuclear Blast Records. Evolving from their previous deathcore roots to a more traditional death metal sound, AOAA, almost sound like a completely different band.

Leaving the notable plethora of pig squeals behind, Steve Regan, went for a more death metal approach by incorporating lower growls that are familiar to the genre. As far as lyrics are concerned, this is their most mature album to date. If you took the time to dissect the seemingly indiscernible vocals of their previous work you’d surely remember the atrociously shocking lyrics that often focused on gore, atheism, and doing hateful and utterly disturbing acts towards women. However, on this album the shock value has been turned down a notch but they haven’t disregarded the hateful lyrics completely.

Kicking it off with the opening track, “And So It Begins…” you are immediately pulled in a haunting, horror film like soundscape that is becoming more common within the death metal scene. Following with “In Snakes I Bathe,” newest drummer Brad Merry shines with fast-paced drumming paired with a fury of impressive blast beats. Along with run of the mill vocals, they marry the macabre theme by incorporating some eerie spoken words. “Born Dead,” we are reintroduced to an older version of AOAA, as it has the spiteful lyrics, “you make me f’ing sick,” and also includes a short pig squeal.

One trademark that AOAA has is their use of gang vocals, especially from their first EP entitled Welcome to Sludge City. They carried this attribute on track, “Bone Crowd.” But these gang vocals are unlike any other they have executed, they are much lower pitched. Midway through the song there is a Whitechapel-esque vocal breakdown, which adds to the otherwise predictable vocals. “Emptiness,” includes whispering that increase the terrifying-vibe the whole album strives for.

“Catastrophic Hybridization,” is the track that stood out the most to me. The melodic guitar line at the beginning quickly got my attention. A few songs later, “Cryogenica,” has the most impressive guitar work on the album. The riffs may not be revolutionary but they are definitely commendable.

Although this may be AAOA’s most mature album to date, for me it isn’t enough to stick and often comes across as monotonous. II: The Reign of Darkness, doesn’t release until February 9th but the entire album is streaming on their myspace page. They have already improved light-years from their first album and only time can tell if their full potential can be exceeded.

Score: 5/10
Written by: Nerissa Judd

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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