Anacrusis was formed in St.Louis, MO in 1986. Being fans of KISS, Metallica, Metal Church, Slayer amongst others, they quickly developed their own quite unique style, a technical hybrid of thrash and power metal. Anacrusis was a word Kevin Heidbreder (guitars) stumbled across in the glossary of a music theory book in high school. Technically, the word means "upbeat, or an unaccented beat at the beginning of a piece of music or line of poetry". This sounded to Kevin like an ideal name for what would be the band he would start together with Kenn Nardi. After 4 full -length albums, the band called it quits in 1994.

SCREAMS AND WHISPERS (1993) METAL BLADE

It's always a little weird to discover "old" bands that enjoy a cult following. You almost feel a little "left behind" because you never gave them the time of day earlier. Anacrusis was one of the many bands I'd heard about for ages, but didn't really begin to look up until 2006. 'Screams And Whispers' ended up being the first album I tried to get into from this technical power/thrash band. And it turned out to be a different experience altogether. This band is by no means an easy listening pleasure. The music demands that you are using both of your ears, and preferably your attention too, to get a full listening experience. 'Screams And Whispers' was to become the last effort from this band before they split up a year later. And because this was the first album I heard from the band, I can't yet say how much it differs from their back-catalogue. What I do know is that it delivers some really technical and progressive power/thrash metal. It's the kind of CD you almost need to be a musician yourself to be able to describe what is going on at all times. They have a very unique sound, and I have a hard time pinpointing any other band I can compare them to. Maybe Voivod? Still, having a sound of their own is of course a good thing. The vocals are for the most part laid back, and clean. But every know and then Kenn uses a more shriek like delivery. I get many different vibes listening to this CD. Some times I think jazz, other times Pink Floyd even Believer!?! That just shows the variety within the music. I do have some problems with this album though. While every song features some cool ideas, and every one of them are filled with some smart riffs, and strange quirks, at times there is just too much going on. A cool song drowns in the experimentalness of things. Just give the album those extra spins to really get into what the band was trying to express with it.

Killer tracks: Sense Of Will, Release, My Soul's Affliction