Anchor – Recovery

That the guys in Anchor were able to make a great full length album was something I already knew after getting 2008’s The Quiet Dance, but in no way I had expected them to come up with a record as strong as Recovery. Sorry No Turning Back, Ritual and countless other European hardcore bands but this is the best European hardcore record of the year.

Opening song Testament pretty much sums up what is so good about Recovery: it’s hard yet melodic and has great lyrics. It makes you want to singalong and punch a hole in the wall at the same time.

Where everyone is always raving about Refused’s The Shape Of Punk To Come as one of the best hardcore records ever made, I always rank Abhinanda’s self titled record and Refused’s Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent as the better records of that era of Swedish hardcore. In many ways Recovery in my opinion is a great follow up to those records. It has that groove that made Songs To Fan The Flames so irrestastable but it also has the really great melodic songwriting that made Abhinanda such an outstanding effort.

This record is easily up there with everything Bridge 9 has put out in recent years and should both appeal to people who like bands as Verse (Sean Murphy does some guestvocals on No Love) as well as those who are more into the European hardcore sound as Anchor isn’t watering down their political vegan message.

Not only the songs and lyrics are really good, the band and labels also made an effort with the whole artwork. The vinyl version, released by Refused Records, comes in a slick gatefold and includes a thick booklet with beautifull pictures. The cd version released by Let It Burn also comes with an awesome looking booklet.

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