If there is one thing about reunion albums that is actually a good thing — it's lowered expectations. Aside from the rare few records by acts like Carcass, Guided by Voices and select others, albums from reunited bands rarely are able to capture the original magic, or reinvent the groups' sounds to the level where they can change your perception of them.
Here we are, then, 34 years removed from pioneering crust/anarcho-punk band Antisect's original LP, and the band is about to drop a new full-length, The Rising of the Lights, their second LP overall. Sound the alarm. Raise red flags. Get ready to whisper to your friends, "Avoid at all costs." Yet one listen to the lead single "Acolyte" and it seems like the standard assumptions regarding reunion albums may not apply here.
"Acolyte" is positively a ripper. With a fist-clenching riff providing its backbone, the new song sounds like it could fit on a latter day Killing Joke record, with all of the swagger and fury that band never really lost in the first place. The vocals, heavily processed toward utter ferocity, also recall Jaz Coleman and fit perfectly with the propulsive nature of the track. Reunions are rarely this fruitful, but of course rules are made to be broken.
The Rising of the Lights is due out on Rise Above Records on October 13th. You can pre-order the album via iTunes and Amazon.
