Rudimentary Peni

Pain and death are about all Rudimentary Peni seem to care in the waning years of their once formidable career. Echoes of Anguish came 15 years after they released their masterpiece, Death Church, which should be an indispensable part of any punk's record collection and dealt with issues like marriage, animal rights, and organized religion from the band's unique gothic/anarchist perspective. But Echoes of Anguish is purely morbid with lyrics like "there is only death/no God/no love/no joy/only death/and the fear of it." The music sort of rocks on charming ditties like "The Flame of Insanity," "In Memory of Pain," and "Womb So Scorned," but starts to lag on the B-side, while the lyrics, which also deal a lot with betrayal, can be genuinely menacing. For a band that only comes out with a record every eon or so, Echoes of Anguish is too simplistic lyrically and musically to move anyone other than Peni's most hardcore, death-obsessed fans. ~ Adam Bregman, All Music Guide