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Anonymous Skull – “Anonymous Skull” (Deathful Lust, 2022)


The idea of fusing Black Metal with other sounds has been around since the inception of the genre, in a way. From the obvious mix with Punk and Thrash, with Death and Doom, Black Metal has been all over the place, for years. Quite recently – or maybe not that recently – we have been seeing musicians taking it up a notch or two. The mate behind Lamp of Murmur, loved or hated, has taken a step further into complete f@cked-up-fusion-with-what process. What?! Yes. The lad by the name M., has helped in making it perfectly normal to fuse Black Metal with Dark and Haunting genres; not that he was, in any way, the first one to do it, but sometimes it takes a bigger name to operate a change…

But this has nothing to do with Lamp of Murmur, right?! We might be in the same continent, but we a are up North, where the cold lives, and where Black Metal is Lord (besides Satan, of course). Anonymous Skull, a new entity out from the cold landscapes of Canada. Canadian Black Metal is a must, in my book, so I dove right into the dark pit that goes by the name of… Anonymous Skull.

It is… special. No doubt about it. Special it is. And why? We did mention Lamp of Murmur before, but can we find a parallelism between these 2?! No, I can’t seem to find similarities, besides the obvious Black Metal ethos. Anonymous Skull does not drift away from the basic structure of the genre; however, it does invest in the melodies and overall song composition.

We have bits of Punk, Post-Punk, stomping beats, and overall hateful feeling. “Rhythmic Hand” showcases the experimental base in which the projects sit, going to all different places, pressing various keys, just being distinct and singular. What I love the most about this release is the emotions that clash within every single song. In the end, it does not sound like a vulgar patchwork; it sounds cohesive and fairly strong and solid. It differentiates itself from a vast majority, by going the extra mile, challenging the obvious and mundane.

“Challenges the mundane”. I am not informed about the other genres, but Black Metal is a genre that keeps on giving. One might find the next best thing, by accident, or simple crash into a project that sounds like everything else. Anonymous Skull surely will gift us with exciting new things, as I do not see them – or him – doing it “by the book”.


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