Tools for Discovery: Anthem Albums Ranked

Anthem is a Japanese heavy metal institution. While Bow Wow can likely be credited for making rock bands from the country take the first careful steps towards the genre, Loudness and Anthem were the earliest big full-on heavy metal bands in the country. Anthem was the more meat-and-potatoes, straightforward, riff-driven band of the two – think Accept with less neoclassicism – and they have remained so throughout their career. Sure, the late eighties showed subtle flirtations with melodic hard rock, and their later work has distinct power metal-isms, but everything Anthem makes is old school heavy metal first and foremost.

In a way, ranking Anthem’s albums may be the most difficult thing I have done so far for Tools for Discovery, as Anthem is one of the most dependable heavy metal bands in the world. There are a few albums I like significantly more – or less – than the others, but the band genuinely has one of the most admirably conistent discographies in the history of heavy metal. They never went through the identity crisis Loudness did go through, and they never desperately tried to adapt their sound to fit new trends in the heavy music landscape.

Unlike many bands that have one clear leader – bassist Naoto Shibata in this case – Anthem’s line-ups have been fairly consistent. Even though Shibata is the only remaining original member, the current line-up has been stable for over a decade, and guitarist Akio Shimizu has been there since 1991. Also, despite switching singers multiple times, only two exceptionally talented singers appear on their original studio albums: Eizo Sakamoto and Yukio Morikawa. There was also a re-recordings album with Graham Bonnet on vocals. A nice prestige thing, but Sakamoto and Morikawa surpass him in every way imaginable.

17. Heraldic Device (2011)

How convenient to have an album open with a great illustration of my issues with it. ‘The Sign’ is actually a decent enough song, though it’s probably the weakest opener on any Anthem album, but the keyboards carrying the melody of the first section is the first problem of many. ‘Heraldic Device’ is the closest Anthem has come to an identity crisis, and in their case, it came in the shape of power metal leanings that distracted from their actual strengths: good riffs and strong vocals. It’s still a far more listenable album than most bands’ worst albums, and one of my favorite songs here is actually the weird AOR experiment ‘Blind Alley’, but even the better tracks are generally inferior to similar songs on different albums.

Recommended tracks: ‘Contagious’, ‘Blind Alley’, ‘Living Proof’

16. Black Empire (2008)

My first impression of ‘Black Empire’ was significantly better than my current opinion of it. What might help is that it starts with two songs that are absolutely fantastic. The problems start shortly after, though. There isn’t a single song on the album that is bad start-to-finish, though ‘Walk Through the Night’ is a surprisingly boring ballad. Too many songs just ruin their good ideas with a clashing chorus or a different section that doesn’t connect well. ‘Telling You’ is a particularly notable offender: the main riff is great, then the chorus takes the sting out of the song. ‘Pilgrim’ may be my favorite of Akio Shimizu’s instrumentals, however, and his closing track ‘Perfect Crawler’ kind of subverts what the rest of ‘Black Empire’ does: it redeems a dull riff with a great chorus and solo section.

Recommended tracks: ‘Black Empire’, ‘Heat of the Night’, ‘Pilgrim’

15. Seven Hills (2001)

‘Seven Hills’ was the first album of original material Anthem released after reuniting around the turn of the century, and if you haven’t kept up with his solo work, one thing will stand out immediately: when did Eizo Sakamoto become one of the best singers in Japan? He retained his rough edge and passionate delivery, but gained so much melodic depth that he manages to elevate even the more pedestrian material on ‘Seven Hills’. The album itself is solid, but unspectacular. The writing is fairly consistent, yet it is somewhat short on true highlights, as well as the spark that the band would soon find again. As evidence that Anthem’s return is one to be happy about, however, ‘Seven Hills’ more than does its job.

Recommended tracks: ‘Grieve of Heart’, ‘Silent and Perfectly’, ‘Running Blood’

14. Eternal Warrior (2004)

Objectively speaking, ‘Eternal Warrior’ may actually be a better album than some of the ones I rank higher, but I somehow don’t find it very engaging. Essentially, the album is Anthem doing what they always do, but the songwriting doesn’t live up to the – admittedly lofty – standards the band had set for itself. It’s also the first Anthem album with hints of power metal on it, which I generally don’t think suits the band very well, but they are subtle enough to ignore. ‘Eternal Warrior’ also isn’t without its highlights, which is what I think it has over the likes of ‘Seven Hills’. In fact, ‘Distress’ is likely my favorite out of all the slower songs Anthem has done, and ‘Onslaught’ is a great opener. Overall, though, ‘Eternal Warrior’ feels like it lacks something.

Recommended tracks: ‘Distress’, ‘Bleeding’, ‘Onslaught’

13. Hunting Time (1989)

Judged on its own, ‘Hunting Time’ is a fine hard rock-ish heavy metal album. But within the context of Anthem’s entire discography, it feels like a watered-down version of its predecessor. Whenever I listen to ‘Hunting Time’, I am reminded of how much rather I would be listening to ‘Gypsy Ways’ instead. I suspect the band just didn’t take enough time to write ‘Hunting Time’, as it came out exactly a year after ‘Gypsy Ways’ to the day, and the songs have a hard time distinguishing themselves from one another. This might be a tempo thing, but since the classy mid-tempo rocker ‘Tears for the Lovers’ is one of the very few truly great songs here, the issue is likely larger than that. It speaks volumes that the bonus track ‘Are You Ready?’ is the highlight of the reissue of ‘Hunting Time’.

Recommended tracks: ‘Bottle Bottom’, ‘Tears for the Lovers’, ‘Hunting Time’

12. Engraved (2017)

Compared to its direct predecessor, ‘Engraved’ is more melodic, yet strangely, less memorable. It isn’t a bad album by any means, and its highlights are nothing short of excellent, but the production doesn’t bring out the energy anywhere near as well as on the previous two albums, and there are songs that more or less feel like Anthem going through the motions. Which is one thing one can almost never accuse the band of. Add to that some productional peculiarities – seriously, what the hell is going on in the chorus of the otherwise excellent ‘Keep Your Spirit Alive’? – and you have the definition of an album that doesn’t live up to its potential. The foundation of a better album is definitely there, and the band comes so close to it at times you can almost hear it.

Recommended tracks: ‘Frozen Fate’, ‘Midnight Growl’, ‘Don’t Break Away’

11. Overload (2002)

Where ‘Seven Hills’ saw Anthem carefully finding their footing in the new century, its follow-up ‘Overload’ sounds much more confident and certain of what it wants to be. It does share one problem with most of the Anthem albums released around that time, and that is that the first few songs are by far the best ones on the album. Opening track ‘Revenge’ in particular is one of the most powerful Anthem songs to date. What makes ‘Overload’ better than the average mid-period Anthem album, however, is the fact that even the “lesser” material is better than it usually is. ‘Desert of the Sea’ especially deserves more recognition. Sure, some songs are not much more than a good riff and a decent hook, but that is really all they need to be.

Recommended tracks: ‘Revenge’, ‘Demon’s Ride’, ‘Desert of the Sea’

10. Anthem (1985)

Anthem’s self-titled is a debut album to be proud of, full of nice, uncomplicated early-eighties heavy metal – yes, I know it was released in the mid-eighties – but it’s also a little underdeveloped at times. First off, Eizo Sakamoto was mainly just shouting his lead vocals, not discovering his melodic capabilities until a little while later. Secondly, the songwriting could use a little work. There are some traces of the band’s later brilliance here. The dark and relatively subtle semi-epic ‘Blind City’ in particular is quite a daring work on an album that’s mainly focused on high-energy stuff. On the other hand, there are some extremely repetitive songs that could at the very least have had one or two final chorus rounds cut. It is the best eighties debut album from a Japanese heavy metal band, though.

Recommended tracks: ‘Blind City’, ‘Warning Action!’, ‘Wild Anthem’

9. No Smoke Without Fire (1990)

‘No Smoke Without Fire’ might be the Anthem album where the peaks and the dips are furthest apart in quality. In a strange way, that’s also what makes the album significantly better than ‘Hunting Time’. There is notably more variation in the tempo department on ‘No Smoke Without Fire’, and the faster songs are all among the album’s highlights. But fortunately, even the mid-tempo stuff sounds a bit more varied this time around. On the other hand, ‘Blinded Pain’ really has no business being nearly seven minutes long, and ‘Power & Blood’ is the closest Anthem has ever come to dumb Los Angeles-styled glam metal. Every other song is enjoyable at the very least, however. Most of them are extremly catchy, and the riffs have got a lot more bite to them than on ‘Hunting Time’.

Recommended tracks: ‘Do You Understand’, ‘Voice of Thunderstorm’, ‘Shadow Walk’

8. Gypsy Ways (1988)

With the arrival of powerhouse singer Yukio Morikawa, Anthem’s sound shifted ever so slightly towards more mid-tempo tracks, although there is still quite a lot of tempo variation on ‘Gypsy Ways’. The result is an album that is almost as much seventies hard rock as it is heavy metal, though the focus on heavy riffs rather than flamboyance keeps it firmly rooted in Anthem’s Priest-meets-Accept sound. Morikawa simply sounds spectacular, and the songwriting really facilitates his strong, loud, yet quite emotional voice. It got him known as the Japanese Graham Bonnet, but I’ll take Morikawa over Bonnet any day. While I miss the speedy heavy metal rippers, Anthem made sure that every song on ‘Gypsy Ways’ has its own clearly identifiable hook, which in my eyes is a songwriting triumph.

Recommended tracks: ‘Cryin’ Heart’, ‘Night Stalker’, ‘Gypsy Ways (Win, Lose or Draw)’

7. Burning Oath (2012)

By far the greatest work from Anthem’s power metal era, ‘Burning Oath‘ is notably more riff-focused than its two direct predecessors. Keyboards are used, but in a much more complementary way that actually enhances the songs, while the melodic ideas are typically carried by Akio Shimizu’s guitars or Eizo Sakamoto’s voice. Sakamoto makes his final appearance as Anthem’s singer here, and he makes it count. He genuinely sounds downright spectacular at times, and that’s partly down to the songwriting building such a solid foundation for him. Unlike the previous two albums, the choruses on ‘Burning Oath’ are genuinely big climaxes of the songs, and the riffs are generally really good. It’s also less an album of highlights. ‘Burning Oath’ is a consistently great album, and every song could still appear on Anthem’s live set if they want them to.

Recommended tracks: ‘Evil One’, ‘Face the Core’, ‘Ghost in the Flame’

6. Domestic Booty (1992)

The wonderfully awkwardly titled ‘Domestic Booty‘ was the final album before Anthem disbanded for a while, and yet, it sounds like it has something to prove. It starts with what is probably the best succession of three songs ever to open an Anthem album, and they are notably more aggressive than anything on the three preceding albums. Later on, the album becomes a bit more experimental – or at least by Anthem standards. The dark, brooding ‘The Dice of No Mercy’ sounds like nothing the band had done before, or since, really. Due to its somewhat experimental nature, ‘Domestic Booty’ isn’t Anthem’s most consistent album, though it is the more conventional stomper ‘Heavy Duty’ that is the worst song here. Most of the album ranges from great to incredible, though, with ‘Renegade’ being one of the best songs the band ever recorded.

Recommended tracks: ‘Renegade’, ‘Venom Strike’, ‘The Dice of No Mercy’

5. Crimson & Jet Black (2023)

Anthem’s most recent original studio album at the time of writing is also the first that got any proper international distribution through Reaper Records. It’s also a major improvement over its predecessor. ‘Crimson & Jet Black‘ mainly focuses on Anthem’s biggest strengths: meaty traditional heavy metal riffs, big choruses and even bigger vocals courtesy of Yukio Morikawa. The average tempo of ‘Crimson & Jet Black’ is higher than on most Anthem albums, which works in its favor. While the mid-tempo songs are good, the faster rippers are where the album really starts cooking. I might have put the album one or two places higher if it didn’t end with two more or less pointless remakes. But how many bands with a discography as extensive as Anthem’s can say that they released one of their best works so late in their career?

Recommended tracks: ‘Blood Brothers’, ‘Howling Days’, ‘Faster’

4. Tightrope (1986)

If you, like me, are of the opinion that a follow-up to an enjoyable debut album should build upon the strengths of that album, ‘Tightrope’ is in many ways the perfect sophomore album. The songwriting is better across the board, with especially guitarist Hiroya Fukuda’s contributions having improved immensely. As a result, every song on ‘Tightrope’ is worth hearing, and the choruses are much catchier and more melodic this time around, although the band had to sacrifice none of its tough, riffy bottom-end for that. Sakamoto’s voice is still somewhat shouty, but there is more melody to it, which might actually be a result of the better songwriting as well. The blueprint for the Anthem sound for the rest of the eighties has been created here, and it is glorious.

Recommended tracks: ‘Driving Wire’, ‘Death to Death’, ‘Night After Night’

3. Bound to Break (1987)

‘Bound to Break‘ marks the beginning of Anthem’s long-standing relationship with British producer Chris Tsangarides. It was also their first to make a few minor international waves, though neither came with significant stylistic changes. The album largely follows the same template as ‘Tightrope’. Tsangarides polished up some of the arrangements, but he clearly realizes the band’s strength is in their ballsy riffing. This was Sakamoto’s last Anthem album before reuniting with them in the early 2000’s, and the fact that there is more space for his vocals in the production helps make it his best recorded work in his first tenure with the band. I understand people who would rank ‘Tightrope’ higher, as the mid-tempo songs on ‘Bound to Break’ are a bit too repetitive, but the peaks are some of the strongest heavy metal of the late eighties.

Recommended tracks: ‘Soldiers’, ‘Bound to Break’, ‘Empty Eyes’

2. Absolute World (2014)

When ‘Absolute World‘ first came out, I had no idea what to expect of it. It was the first album with Yukio Morikawa returning on vocals, and first things first: he still knows how to nail a powerful, rough-edged vocal melody. The songwriting largely steps away from the power metal influences Anthem flirted with over the decade prior to ‘Absolute World’. There are still traces of them, but as long as they don’t concern the ones in the dull, overlong melodic rocker ‘Love of Hell’, they actually work very well in conjunction with the riffs and the guitar melodies on the album. Apart from maybe ‘Immortal’, ‘Absolute World’ was at the time the album on which Anthem sounded the most like their classic sound with an updated production job, and that is exactly why it is one of their better works thus far.

Recommended tracks: ‘Stranger’, ‘In the Chaos’, ‘Destroy the Boredom’

1. Immortal (2006)

Maybe not the most popular choice for the best Anthem album, and I can totally understand that eyesore of a cover putting people off. Don’t let that mislead you, though: ‘Immortal‘ is the most consistently amazing set of Anthem songs to date. It succeeds better than any other Anthem album at combining the band’s more traditional heavy metal roots with subtle compositional traits from contemporary power metal by putting the riffs front and center. A track like the ominous, groovy monster ‘Mob Groove’ could really only be on ‘Immortal’, and something like the theatrical ‘Echoes in the Dark’ fits right alongside something more traditional, like ‘Road to Nowhere’ or the vaguely Motörhead-esque ‘Soul Motor’. Genuinely one of the finest heavy metal albums ever to come out of Japan, and it compares pretty damn favorably to many albums from outside of the country as well.

Recommended tracks: ‘Soul Motor’, ‘Mob Groove’, ‘Echoes in the Dark’