I always keep an ear out for new Progressive Metal bands in the hope that I will find a band that takes interesting risks yet knows how to construct a cohesive whole. It is baffling to me that this hope often is in vain as a lot of the bands that form to make Progressive music decide on taking on an established sound of how this genre “should” sound like—breaking the rules by sticking to them as close as one can is a fruitless effort. What I am getting at here is simply that my enjoyment of the debut album by The Anchoret is squandered by the fact that they sound too much like Opeth and at the same time do not sound enough like Opeth. The guitar leads on It All Began With Loneliness sounds a lot like Mikael Åkerfeldt‘s style of riffs. While also some of the tracks’ breakdowns with mournful clean guitars and choir-like synth melodies could be ripped straight from Opeth‘s Damnation. But this is fortunately not the only trick The Anchoret have up their sleeve. They also make use of some saxophone playing that occasionally hits the mark, like in standout song “Forsaken”. There are some moments here and there when It All Began With Loneliness impresses with an interesting idea or a heavy transition.
Sadly, the way the songs are constructed often pales in comparison to the genre greats. This band takes a page from the stagnated Progressive Metal genre’s tendency to make songs long to provide the individual players ample space to show off their skills, allocating focus away from constructing complete songs where these moments would happen naturally. The songs progress in a linear fashion, often trying to build a swelling tension or tragic feeling across their runtime. Breakdowns to quiet often lands at places where it feels like the song has stayed in the same mode for too long rather than adding something. The Anchoret seem to favor moments of tension built by the guitars and occasionally intense drums while the vocalist tries to sing something depressing or soulful above it. It is a trick that gets old fast and it is not helped by the album stopping a minute short of an hour. In all, I find myself unable to remember the songs properly after the album stops spinning and I wish The Anchoret would develop song ideas that give us a clear idea of who they are. I can find the wailing guitars, saxophone, directionless songwriting and softly tragic breakdowns in a lot of other bands within the Progressive genre. Why should I pick this over anything else?
