Some say that the myspace phenomenon signals the end of the album, artists relying on supplying the odd track here and there for us to download. I know it’s about the freedom of choosing which track you’d like to download but will bands be bothered to record anything on mass anymore? 

In a way I can see the point in that so much of the stuff on albums can be filler material. Just put you best stuff on the web and be done with it. But then you would have been deprived of some truly breathtaking past albums that were indeed the complete concept. 

Sadly I’m a bit of a fart and still like albums. I think it’s the way true artist’s develop along with playing it all in live. In that regard ‘Anterior’ are a breath of fresh air. This, their first studio album, ‘This Age of Silence’ is a gem, with barely a duff moment. It’s not perfect. There are no killer hooks or indeed that one truly great song to project them into the Premier League.  

Yet the young Welsh quartet have time on their hands and are one of the better bands I’ve heard in a while doing the ‘Children of Bodom’, ‘Arch Enemy’ thing. The guitar work is superb and should find fans of classic metal such as Maiden, Priest and Accept also cocking an appreciative ear. Anterior have cross over appeal very much like Trivium. In fact the distinctive harmony guitar parts aren’t a million miles away at times. 

All this from a young, UK band and it can’t be bad. The production is spot on. The pacing and song construction the bearer of repeated listens. The album working as a whole. Yep, to come back to my initial point: Anterior prove you can still make (shock, horror) a real album. Not lots of little ‘downloady’ bits banged out as an excuse for one.  

So loads of potential if they can tap into their inner catcthiness/hookliney thingy and lighten up a bit like a certain band beginning with ‘T’ have successfully done. This band are more than just a thrashy, hardcore act. Only time will tell if they want to stand out alone from their influences. 

A band to keep an eye on, me thinks.