Origin: Baltimore, Maryland, USA  
Genres: Doom Metal
Official Site
Last update/review: March 15, 2011

Against Nature

The lineup of Against Nature is precisely the first album lineup of Revelation, a prime mover in the DC area doom movement of the mid-nineties. That band eventually broke up and has since reformed as a studio project (with two of the guys here playing in that band as well), while this band moves forward on its own. Comparing this band to the Revelation of old, it's a case of some things being the same and others not. Doom is still the order of the day here, but Against Nature is slower, sparser, with almost a spacey vibe going with the fuzzy, downtuned guitars. This isn't the wall-of-sound, crushing doom that some bands play -- rather, it's almost subdued in its approach, with John Brenner's vocals rather meandering at times (his is not a classic doom metal voice, but it fits well here), coupled with a recording sound that feels like it's straight from 1970. At times the songs drag a bit, though when they go for a bit more upbeat tempo ("Bolt" for example), things do pick up. Certainly not a contemporary band, but they do have a unique style that's worth a listen.

This has got to be the most prolific band in recent memory, as they have released no less than nine full-length albums in only four years!

Current Members

John Brenner

guitars/vocals (ex-Have Mercy, ex-Revelation)

Bert Hall

bass (ex-Revelation)

Steve Branagan

drums (ex-Revelation)



Discography



Appease  
2005 Bland Hand
  1. Alogos
  2. Neighborhood 8
  3. Appease
  4. Bolt
  5. A Priori
  6. Bland Hand Society
  7. Organon
  8. Outlet
  9. Ensurpate
  10. Before the Before
  11. After the After
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Panoply  
2005 Bland Hand
  1. Pain By Numbers
  2. Instauration
  3. Two Years in Texas
  4. Panoply
  5. Free Radical
  6. Splatterism
  7. Mere Rebels
  8. Children Cope with Boredom
  9. Everyday Genius
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Safe Dissonance  
2006 Bland Hand
  1. Spectatorship
  2. Safe Dissonance
  3. Note to Myself
  4. Sophistry
  5. Canon
  6. Inflating Dwarfs
  7. Swerve
  8. Beware Lilliputians
  9. Torpor
  10. Armadillo
  11. Ignorance with Arrogance
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Ghosting  
2006 Bland Hand
  1. Absolute Zero
  2. Quantum Foam
  3. Natrificial
  4. Invisible Cities
  5. The Debil and the Bejeezus
  6. Ghosting
  7. Wordcrime
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Leer  
2006 Bland Hand
  1. Fool
  2. Nothing Will Come of Nothing
  3. In Good Time
  4. Base
  5. I Nothing Am
  6. The Need
  7. Poor Tom
  8. The Thing Itself
  9. Fall / Miracle
  10. Like Flies
  11. Howl / Never / Look There / The Weight [
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



The Anxiety Of Influence  
2007 Bland Hand
  1. Aporia
  2. Mimesis
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Unfolded  
2007 Bland Hand
  1. Gehenna
  2. Mortar and Pestle
  3. Orphan Mind
  4. Disturb
  5. Seeming to Be
  6. Contrarian
  7. Come September
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Much In Little  
2008 Bland Hand
  1. Touch Me Not
  2. Another Self
  3. Mystic Cynic
  4. Come What May
  5. Much in Little
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Descend  EP
2008 Bland Hand
  1. Descend
  2. Rue
  3. Lapse
  4. After All
  5. Here Lies
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Natural Blue  
2008 Bland Hand
  1. Sonic Tonic
  2. Moonshine And Mead
  3. NOS
  4. Something's Gotta Happen
  5. Bottom Of The Hill
  6. Dog And Pony Show
  7. One O'Clock Whistle
  8. Natchel Blue
  9. Horse Before The Cart
  10. Lemongrass
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Accumulus  
2009 Bland Hand
  1. Normal Nihilists
  2. Lunatic Of One Idea
  3. The Lesser Unconformity
  4. All In Motion
  5. Melopoeia
  6. Lea
  7. Hamartia
  8. A Certain Doubleness
  9. Happenstance
  10. Rasp
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Action At A Distance  
2009 Bland Hand
  1. Action at a Distance
  2. Graviton
  3. Another Geometry
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



The First Rain  EP
2009 Bland Hand
  1. Bolton Hill
  2. Wyman Dell
  3. It's What It's
  4. You Here, You There
  5. Over the Underpass
  6. The First Rain
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Drawing Arrows  
2010 Bland Hand
  1. Island
  2. Darts and Kites
  3. Chasing Eagles
  4. Every Day is Too Long
  5. Sylvi
  6. Milkweed
  7. Afterthought
  8. Drawing Arrows
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Chasing Eagles  
2010 Bland Hand
  1. Mixed and Measured
  2. A Likely Story
  3. Living Well
  4. Way Back When
  5. Snowed Under
  6. Without Within
  7. Tangled and Troubled
  8. Reprieve
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Cross Street  
2010 Bland Hand
  1. Storm Warning
  2. By and By
  3. Down and In
  4. Behind the Times
  5. Blueprints
  6. Stone Upon Stone
  7. Cross and Light
  8. Flash in the Pan
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Stone Over Stone  
2011 Bland Hand
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Ground Down  
2011 Bland Hand
  1. First Things First
  2. Written in Bone
  3. Sky Up, Ground Down
  4. Evergreen
  5. Don't Kid Yourself
  6. Passerby
  7. Rough Road
  8. Susquehanna
  9. Tired of Being Tired
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan



Fallen Rock  
2012 Bland Hand
  1. Hello
  2. Blinded
  3. Stephanie
  4. Wanderlust
  5. Fate and Karma
  6. Blue Collar
  7. Show Myself the Door
  8. Slow Split
  9. Empty
  • John Brenner
  • Bert Hall
  • Steve Branagan




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