Anonymus

Believe it or not, Montreal's Anonymus have been plugging away for 13 years now. Daemonium is a solid release that shows the band's strengths well, but also has a definite demo feel to it. The band's strengths, without a doubt, lie in the excellent and very metal guitar work. Classic thrash metal riffage that brings to mind Annihilator's Jeff Waters abounds, with each song packed with tons of headbangin' riffs that are well above average. Otherwise, things kinda get stuck in the mid-everything realm, that area that only "local bands" can seem to wedge into; a bit of Pantera, some Biohazard, Metallica part here. There's potential oozing out of these guys, but there's just a lack of cohesion pulling it all together. The thing drags on for too long as well. I would say give 'em time, but they've had a lot of it already, so just tune in to the great guitar playing; the disc is worth it for that alone, a rare feat.