Anoushbard – Abandoned Treasure Review

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There is one thing that I always say about the albums that come here to be reviewed. It’s very hard to have a say about an album listening to it only once. The nuances and details each album bring are very hard to find in most cases giving them only one listening. Some albums even deserve more than twice or three times for different reasons, for instance, they are so complex and there needs to be more time to catch all the details from them or, on the opposite, they are so simple that it’s hard to find the words. Anoushbard with “Abandoned Treasure” fall into the first. “Abandoned Treasure” is such a complex album to get everything from it from only one listening. It needs many more. To make things even more difficult, and because of that, much more interesting there are so many layers and layers of different sonancies. The album deals with a such a variety of influences from oriental music to Extreme Metal features, though, I can’t honestly put Anoushbard as an Extreme Metal band. There are so many details here that tell me otherwise. There are so many Progressive Metal and Rock instances to tell.

Album welcomer  “The Righteous Ardaviraf (Preparation)” has a very Prog Metal beginning with an acoustic atmosphere that goes in a crescendo to a 1990’s Metal instrumentals. Following track “The Righteous Ardaviraf (Journey)” starts heavier and faster abandoning the acoustic moments of first track and presents the guttural vocal that will share vocals with the clean voice. They added to their cauldron some oriental moments that give the spice to the song and most of the band’s identity. Anoushbard will repeat these moments all over the album consistently. About the split vocals they are the thing that made me thing a lot about how labeling the band. What they do here is almost what Accept’s Udo Dirkschneider used to do sharing a harsher voice with a clean. The thing is that Accept used to split vocals less than Anoushbard do. Are they Prog Metal? No, I guess not. They are too heavy. Are they Progressive Death Metal? Well, maybe. But the drumming and the guitars as “The Righteous Ardaviraf (Return)“ shows are much more of a Heavy Metal lineage than Death Metal though the vocals. I’ll let my dear child of the night settle this for me.

It’s always great to review a band like Anoushbard and all the diverse influence they bring to our beloved Metal music. Bands like them that make it evolve.

Anoushbard “Abandoned Treasure” was released on April 1st.

Track Listing:

  1. The Righteous Ardaviraf (Preparation)
  2. The Righteous Ardaviraf (Journey)
  3. The Righteous Ardaviraf (Return)
  4. Destructive Spirit (Angra Mainyu)
  5. Tower of silence (Dakhma)
  6. Abandoned Treasure
  7. Blacksmith’s Apron
  8. Mother

Watch “Abandoned Treasure” official lyric video here:

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