Album Review

Stray From The Path – Anonymous

• 16th Sep 2013

They tell you never to judge a book by its cover, but the artwork for Stray From The Path’s fourth studio album is a pretty good indication for the tone of this album: its powerful, dark and angry at the world. ‘Anonymous’ is packed with brutally heavy riffs, aggressive screams and underlying messages that highlight the multiple issues in modern day society. Unlike the ‘heartbreak melodies‘ provided by the vast amount of Hardcore bands today, Stray From The Path have more intelligent concerns, which immediately give this band more depth and maturity. That’s not to say they are totally original and there aren’t songs where they vent about their personal problems, because there are, and the chances are you’ve heard their sound before – but the overall album seems deeper rooted than most.

‘Anonymous’ opens with ‘False Flag’, a memorable, irate, and strangely catchy song which is suggestively flipping the bird to the state. Aside from the obvious extrovert attitude this album gives off, it’s also obvious that there is some seriously intricate musicianship taking place. Either way, it’s a strong start to a strong album, which still carries their distinctive sound. Naturally, they’ve musically progressed, however, their style has been further influenced by the origins of nu-metal, with the slight hints of early grunge and thrash. ‘Influence’ being the operative word though. Within a few seconds of ‘Badge & A Bullet’, there’s only one thing that comes to mind: Rage Against The Machine. With the lyrical focal point of police corruption and distinctive Rage riffs, this song bears a resemblance so uncanny, that it’s almost believable that they’ve borrowed Tom Morello for a guest spot. By no means is this a negative comment though, as it’s a hard image to pull-off and yet somehow they manage to get away with it, which says a lot for the band. From ‘Counting Sheep’ through to ‘Landmines’ Stray From The Path consecutively delivered aggressive, intense tracks with a messages they want to be heard. Love it or hate it, there’s no way you won’t want to move to it.

If you’re looking for a totally original album, then perhaps this isn’t the best for you. However, if you want a passionate, heavy and catchy hardcore album, from a band that’s pissed at the world and have something significant to say, then this is definitely one to check out. One thing is for sure, ‘Anonymous’ is definitely their greatest and most technical record yet, so it’ll be interesting to see what this does for the band. Stray from the Path is known as ‘the band that never gives you the same record’, so it’ll be interesting to see how they progress from this, and more importantly – how they top this.

– Mercedes Brown

Venue: Anonymous
Support Band: Sumerian