Anvil Is Anvil - New Album 02.26.16

Anvil - Anvil is Anvil (independent) 2016

1. Daggers and Rum (5:26)
2. Up, Down, Sideway (3:19)
3. Gun Control (4:22)
4. Die for a Lie (3:17)
5. Runaway Train (3:40)
6. Zombie Apocalypse (4:22)
7. It's Your Move (3:30)
8. Ambushed (3:22)
9. Fire on the Highway (4:35)
10. Run Like Hell (3:07)
11. Forgive Don't Forget (2:40)
BONUS TRACKS
12. Never Going to Stop (4:12)
13. You Don't Know What It's Like (3:31)

The aptly titled "Anvil is Anvil" is a statement about the band's sound. Not unlike Motorhead, Anvil refuse to change their sound. As Lips has stated in numerous interviews they would rather "stay faithful to ourselves."

I'm a self-professed Anvil fanatic. I've bought all their albums as new releases since discovering "Metal on Metal" back in the early 80's. I traveled to other states in the U.S. to see them perform. I've done Kickstarters for the band, including for this album. I've enjoyed most of their releases and "Anvil is Anvil" is no exception. However, the first track to be released to the public for this album was "Die for a Lie" and to be quite frank, I didn't like it. The song is weak and the lyrics are weaker. You don't have to be religious to get tired of hearing metal bands complain about religion, as if these bands are somehow less hypocritical than people who have faith in God. If these bands don't believe in God, fine, but why constantly rip on people that have faith? While there are hypocrites and deceivers in every walk of life, many people of faith are genuinely good people who would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it, and many of them are Anvil fans as well. On top of this, the whole idea of people dying for religion and religion being the main cause of wars over the decades is a fallacy. The truth is non-religious motivations such as politics, dictators, naturalistic philosophies, etc. bear the blame for nearly all of human wars. However, even if you agree with Kudlow's ideology in this song, the lyrics come off as rather amateurish, and obviously Anvil are not amateurs. After hearing the whole album I am not sure why this track was chosen as the first track.

The album starts off with a wicked pirate shanty titled “Daggers and Rum”. Now this track is classic Anvil. It's fun, it's heavy, it's metal, it's everything anyone would expect from this band. After all, Anvil is Anvil! I found the album as a whole to flow well, with the exception of the aforementioned "Die For a Lie". However there are several standout cuts. "Up, Down, Sideway" immediately reminded me of the Yardbirds classic, "Over Under Sideways Down". Of course the two songs have nothing to do with each other, but the title just had me singing the chorus to the old standard in my head. Other standouts include the politically charged “Gun Control”, the speed metal track “Fire on the Highway” and the stomping “Runaway Train”, which reminded me of the classic 80's Anvil sound. As well. “Ambushed” has that classic Anvil heavy groove and a fist-pumping, sing-along chorus. Perhaps this song should have been released as the teaser track.

Anvil is Anvil was produced by Martin "Mattes" Pfeiffer (U.D.O.) at the Redhead 4 Studios in Pulheim near Cologne, Germany, so the recording is outstanding and in fact may be their best to date.

I think every Anvil album has had standout tracks; "Metal on Metal", "Winged Assassins", "Mad Dog", "Bushpig", "Old School", "Speed of Sound", "Plenty of Power" etc. "Anvil is Anvil" has thrown “Daggers and Rum” and “Ambushed” into that mix. As the title suggests, Anvil are what they are. No surprises here.

Anvil is Anvil was fan-funded and was released in limited quantities on CD by the band independent of any labels. However, the album was picked up by SPV for international release and will be released on vinyl and CD. Supposedly the band's version has two bonus tracks. Press releases for the SPV version included "Never Going to Stop", so "You Don't KNow What It's Like" may very well be exclusive to the indie release.

I have the vinyl coming and this new Anvil is not to bad nothing earth shattering just your typical Anvil.

Wargod