Danimal Cannon: Lunaria

Eight-bit tech-metal mayhem – furious joystick-waggling ensues

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Sometimes it’s easy to wonder just how far the quest for pushing metal into the future will have to go.

And although there are loads of bands twisting, refiguring and melding our genre in new and exciting ways, there are also those who think that wacky gimmicks and late-night ideas dreamed up by drunken, stoned, giggling musicians can be passed off as visionary artistic statements. Danimal Cannon is a one-man electro-tech-metal mash-up fed and processed through an eight-bit Gameboy, and has, quite astonishingly, managed to shift over 10,000 copies despite being wilfully untraditional and jarringly retro at the same time.

So while the idea of Meshuggah providing the soundtrack to The Legend Of Zelda might have raised a few eyebrows in 1993, in 2016 it’s hard to ignore the overriding wackiness.

There’s definitely some skill and talent here – the title track could pass as a song – but if you’re immune to whimsy, an initial sense of bewilderment is likely to give way to exasperation pretty quickly.

Stephen joined the Louder team as a co-host of the Metal Hammer Podcast in late 2021, eventually becoming a regular contributor to the magazine. He has since written hundreds of articles for Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Louder, specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal. He also presents the Trve. Cvlt. Pop! podcast with Gaz Jones and makes regular appearances on the Bangers And Most podcast.