German metal is best known for Rammstein’s pyro perversions, but Annisokay are hoping to change that. Taking influences from across the spectrum of heavy music, Devil May Care is an apt description of the band’s attitude towards songwriting.
This is a band of extremes: hulking great riffs and roars, tempered by glitchy synths and some of the most radio-friendly vocals you’ll hear this side of, well, the radio.
The band do ‘catchy’ very well – listen to What’s Wrong and you’ll have its riff in your head for a week – but when they push that pop sensibility, as on Blind Lane, the results owe more to Linkin Park than the metalcore/melodic death metal bands whose influences abound elsewhere. Subsequently, the beatdown on Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down feels like a bolted-on nod to genre convention rather than a vital addition. Devil May Care is an accomplished debut album, but the gulf in quality between the best and less-good tracks prevent it from being a great one.
