AWmusic

Anvil, a band left behind in the golden age of metal rises back up to fame with the now proper release of This Is Thirteen, which is just now starting to get the recognition it deserves.

The Good: Great classic heavy metal, getting the proper recognition it deserves, gets back to metals roots, fast, loud, great intros on almost every track, adrenaline surge, well meshed, great riffs, addition of bonus track “Thumb Hang” is the cherry on top, everything meshes pretty well, notable songs include “Thumb Hang”, “This Is Thirteen”, “Axe To Grind”, “Should’ A Would’ A Could’ A”, “Flying Blind”

The Bad: Vocals feel overpowered and overshadowed in a couple songs, feels like it would be better listened to on vinyl, lyrics could have been better written, live performance tops studio recordings, vocals sound awkward in a few instances, lengthy, shame that it’s taken this long to get a full and proper release, songs seem to repeat themselves a bunch lyrically, repetitious here and there

A band that ranks up to par and even above bands such as Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, and Metallica, Anvil was left behind in the golden age of metal and not up until just recently have they started to get the full respect and recognition that they deserved so long ago. With the release of Anvil: The Story Of Anvil and induction into the Indies Hall Of Fame they are now just starting to enter into full mainstream limelight. With all eyes on Anvil now, an album that had been so overlooked way back in 2007 is just now finally getting a full and proper worldwide release. This Is Thirteen takes heavy metal back to the roots of it all and sounds just as phenomenal as it would have had it been released way back in the 70’s.

On a side note pertaining to what I just said, the album listened to from start to finish actually sounds like it was made for vinyl. Although I have yet to purchase and listen to said album on vinyl, there is just a certain quality while listening all the way through it on compact disc that made me think that although superb in many ways, I feel it would sound even better on vinyl. It’s one of those rare exceptions these days where it would have probably have been wiser to purchase the vinyl edition instead, pull up a bean bag chair with the headphones on and just chill out for an hour or so.

The album is pretty lengthy to say the least, with thirteen tracks and an added fourteenth bonus track, This Is Thirteen is approximately an hour long. There are times where I’ll listen to the whole album through and enjoy every single minute of it, but most days I just don’t find I have the time necessary to show it the light of day it deserves where I’ll skip the song a quarter to half way through the song. There are times where trying to listen to the entire album it just feels as if the whole album just becomes one entire repetitious song and I’ll start listening to something entirely different. It just really all depends on what mood I’m in for that day. There are just those days where it’ll feel like one of the best albums out there, and there are those days where I don’t want to let my ears anywhere near it. The length of an album can both hinder and strengthen itself, here we find it becomes almost like a double-edged sword.

I also have to note that there are a couple songs where you can barely hear the vocals whatsoever. It’s not like he’s screaming or growling or anything, the problem here is that it seems the instruments just overpower Lips vocals at certain points. It gets so bad at points where his vocals become almost entirely inaudible which definitely should not be the case. Possibly just some minor difficulties in the recording process but overall it’s only a minor setback to the album as a whole.

Touching upon both more about vocals but more so about lyrics, I found that as a whole the lyrics could have definitely used a lot more work. I mean it definitely meshes fine with everything that’s going on for the most part, but at the same time the lyrics can feel a little repetitious, ridiculous, and out of place. By out of place, I mean to say that there are certain parts within various tracks where it will feel that a certain lyrical choice added together with Lips vocals just push it slightly out of sync with the rest of the song and just feels kind of off. Once again this is only but a minor setback in the long run.

Now onto the part where I actually praise this album for its full worth in gold. It’s extremely rare in most instances for a band that started out in the 70’s to come out with an album that still feels and sounds like it was made in the 70’s instead of following mainstream popularity and ultimately selling out. This Is Thirteen is definitely a rare treasure that sounds phenomenal and feels like it gets back to the heart of where it all started. It’s loud, it’s fast, and it’ll give you your morning energy boost if need be. The bass is booming, the guitar riffs and solos are perfect, the drums are exceptional, and Lips vocals are the icing that tops everything off. It’s definitely an album that will grab the attention of the older metal heads while possibly turning even more of the younger generation on to the more classic metal. Anvil has shown that even when you seem down and out, you can still pick yourself up and rise right back to the top.

If you have yet to see their documentary Anvil: The Story Of Anvil, I would highly recommend watching it as soon as possible, could even be up for an Oscar this year with all the speculation around it. It’s a good watch, and will show you just how out there they become when it comes to live performances. They are truly masters of the stage, and while their studio albums are all good, it’s their live performances that top it all. A sight that truly must be seen to believe and I’m glad I was lucky enough to have seen them perform during their induction into the Indies Hall Of Fame.

Another thing to mention is that while each song is good in its own way, the intros are one of the best and most unique features of each track. Some of the best intros that stick out for me would have to be on “Big Business” which evokes imagery of an old western or biker bar. Some other amazing intros you can find on “Bombs Away”, “Axe To Grind”, and “Burning Bridges”. A combination of guitar, bass, and drums or sometimes solely one or the other, Anvil has gotten the art of creating intros down to a science aka the attention grabber and one of the most pivotal parts in attracting an audience to a certain song.

There are a lot of great songs to be heard on This Is Thirteen, some not as great as others, but way more good than bad. My picks from This Is Thirteen that I see as being some of the most notable on the album would have to be “Flying Blind”, “This Is Thirteen”, “Should’ A Would’ A Could’ A”, “Axe To Grind”, and of course the cherry on top “Thumb Hang”. “Thumb Hang” is one of the most epic songs on the entire album that starts out powerful and ends powerfully. It’s a bonus track that was added to the new release and for me is a very welcome addition. The sound quality on “Thumb Hang” actually sounds a lot more professional than the rest of the album for the most part and almost overshadows the rest of the album even though it wasn’t a part of the original release. It’s a real shame that it took this long for this album to get a proper release, but then again it still may not have gotten noticed two years ago with a proper release and we may not have seen the addition of “Thumb Hang”. You just have to take the good with the bad sometimes.

Overall looking at this album as a whole, there are a couple minor flaws here and there that do somewhat hinder the album especially when one song can almost sound better than the entire album. This could possibly be fixed by simply listening to the vinyl edition instead, but overall just listening to all the intros for each track, all the solos, all the explosive metal, and head banging goodness, it all makes up for it in the end. It’s definitely an album for the true metal head banger out there, and provides something for the new and old alike. For what it’s worth, it’s good to see Anvil, a legendary Canadian metal band, finally getting the limelight and recognition they deserve. When it comes to making metal you need an anvil, and who better to deliver that straight to your ears than Anvil themselves. With their next album, Juggernauts of Justice, in the works, time will only tell if their second wave of success will last long enough for another full mainstream release.

7.9/10

Axe To Grind by Anvil
Thumb Hang by Anvil
Flying Blind by Anvil