Anacrusis (band)

Anacrusis was a progressive/thrash metal band from St. Louis, MO. Anacrusis was one of the first bands that attempted to blend thrash and progressive metal.

History
Anacrusis' first demo, Annihilation Complete was voted Best Demo of 1987 by the readers of Metal Forces magazine and was later included in the publication's Demolition... Scream Your Brains Out! compilation album. This led to a deal with England-based indie Active Records, for whom the group created their first album, Suffering Hour, the following year on a meager $1,200 budget in just under a week. The following Reason album began revealing signs of the band's popular sound. Anacrusis toured in support of the band D.R.I., but without an album released on an American label, the drummer Mike Owen quit to join the Navy shortly after they returned home. Former Heaven's Flame member Chad Smith took over the drums, while the band eventually got signed to the American label Metal Blade Records.

In 1991, Manic Impressions was their first album proper studio recording, recorded at Royal Recorders in Lake Geneva, WI. A 38-city U.S. tour supporting Overkill and Galactic Cowboys followed a handful of Midwestern dates opening for Megadeth earlier in the year. After the tour, on returning to St. Louis, they devoted the next few months to writing new material, and after replacing Smith with drummer Paul Miles, work finally began on their 1993 album Screams and Whispers. This would remain their final album, as the band broke up after its release.

In 2009, the band announced that the original line-up of Kenn Nardi, Kevin Heidbreder, John Emery, and Mike Owen would reunite for a performance at the 2010 KEEP IT TRUE XIII Festival in Germany. Also in 2009 the band released a CD/DVD anthology of early material on Stormspell Records. The package included their 1987 "Annihilation Complete" demo along with other demos, rehearsal recordings and early live footage.

On April 18, 2010, in preparation for their first festival appearance in 17 years, Anacrusis performed to an estimated 500 people at T. Billy Buffet's, a St. Louis venue owned by Kevin Heidbreder, one of the band's guitar players. They also released a 2-disc set titled Hindsight: Suffering Hour & Reason Revisited, which contains re-recorded versions of the first two albums.

Last known members

 * Kenn Nardi - Guitars, Vocals
 * Kevin Heidbreder - Guitars
 * John Emery - Bass
 * Mike Owen - Drums

Former/past members

 * Chad Smith - Drums
 * Paul Miles - Drums

(Note: Chad Smith is not to be confused with the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer of the same name).

Albums

 * Suffering Hour (1988)*
 * Reason (1990)*
 * Manic Impressions (1991)*
 * Screams and Whispers (1993)*
 * Anihilation Complete - The Early Years Anthology (2009)
 * HINDSIGHT: Suffering Hour & Reason Revisited (2010)

* = Available for download on band website.

Demos

 * Annihilation Complete (1986) First Demo
 * Annihilation Complete (1987) Second Demo
 * Quick To Doubt (1989) - unauthorized demo

Compilations

 * Demolition - Scream Your Brains Out! (1988) - Metal Forces compilation with the songs "Annihilation Complete" and "Imprisoned"