Anacrusis

Anacrusis was one of the more talented bands which somehow got lost in the shuffle of the late-'80s thrash phenomenon. Plagued with poor distribution and isolated from the thriving speed metal communities on either coast, they were often said to be ahead of their time by enthusiastic critics, but it seems that their eclectic style simply shot over most listeners' heads. The members of Anacrusis grew up in and around St. Louis, MO, and like most kids of their generation found a common bond in the ever influential Kiss before discovering metal originators Black Sabbath and the more extreme exponents of the early '80s. After the breakup of his High School band, Heaven's Flame, singer and guitarist Kenn Nardi joined forces with guitarist Kevin Heidbreder, bassist John Emery, and drummer Mike Owen to form Anacrusis in late 1986. Unsure about his own singing abilities, Nardi convinced the band to tune all the way down from natural "E" to a low-"B," thereby striking upon a distinctive, incredibly bottom-heavy sound which would eventually become their trademark. Anacrusis' first demo, which they named Annihilation Complete was voted Best Demo of 1987 by the readers of Metal Forces Magazine and was later included in the publication's Scream Your Brains Out compilation album. This, in turn, led to a deal with England-based indie Active Records, for whom the group waxed their first album, Suffering Hour, the following year. Recorded on a measly 1,200-dollar budget in just under a week, the disc was a jumble of ill-matched material culled from the bandmembers' many earlier projects, and only its rabid speed and aggression helped make it at all cohesive. Still, it was a start, and the following year's Reason LP, though similarly rushed and amateurishly produced, already showed signs...