20100213

Anchor
'First year' CD
Self X True Records
'Walking in the footsteps of society's lies. I don't like what I see no more. Sometimes I wish that I was bling, sometimes I wait forever' - Bon Jovi.
Anchor is one of the best & most active vegan / straight edge bands of Europe.
Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, they feature ex-members of Damage Control and Set My Path, and they share the drummer with another fav Swedish band, Dead Vows.
They exist since 2007 but they have managed to work on a lot of things, including Euro and USA tours and a bunch of releases that well known labels like Refuse, xCatalystx and Refoundation Records put out.
'First year', as the title indicates, is a discography CD that includes all the songs that they released during 2007, that means all 5 songs from 'Captivity' MCD, the 2 songs from the split 7" with The Kind That Kills, plus an unreleased one. It was released by the Moscow based label, Self X True, run by a very dedicated guy, Vasya.
Anchor's music draws influences from bands like Trial, Strife, Undertow and Unbroken. In other words this is 90s heavy hardcore in its best, with a strong political approach representing their anarchist / animal rights / straight edge beliefs.
The artwork is nice but simple; the booklet includes the lyrics and a translation in russian language, plus some nice photos by xsheepx.com and attheshow.com.
Moreover, there are some quotes by Barry Horne, an English animal rights activist, according wikipedia, who became known in the world when he did a 68 days hunger strike back in 1998 in an effort to complain to English government for not prohibiting animal testing. That time Barry Horne was serving an 18-year prison sentence for planting incediary devices in stores that sold fur coats and leather products. He died of liver failure (while suffering from failing eyesight and kidney damage) at the age of 49 in 5th November 2001.
'Believe me, the time has come to reach for those stars and believe it is possible' - Barry Horne.
http://www.myspace.com/xanchorx
http://www.myspace.com/selfxtrue