Saint Louis, MO isn't exactly known for anything Thrash Metal oriented, either now or "back in the day." But, one incredibly talented Thrash band came out of Saint Louis and that was Anacrusis. After the breakup of front-man Kenn Nardi's High School band "Heaven's Flame", Nardi teamed up with guitarist Kevin Heidbreder, drummer Mike Owen, and bassist John Emery to form Anacrusis in (late) 1986. Supposedly unsure of his own vocal abilities, and to patent their trademark sound, Nardi convinced the band to tune down to "B" instead of "E". That in turn gave them a very very, bottom-heavy flat sound.

In 1987 the band released a demo entitled "Annihilation Complete" that was voted best demo tape of 1987 by British magazine Metal Forces and also highly rated by Kerrang! After, the band was signed to small indie label Active records (Dyoxen, etc.) and released "Suffering Hour" in 1988. The album was put together in less than a week cost $1,200 to produce. Despite the hasty production and low budget, the album is fierce, aggressive, as well as progressive and gives the band a start.

In 1990, "Reason" is released and while still being aggressive and intense like the first LP, the album has longer songs that contain more breadth and space. That year Anacrusis would get on the road to tour with one of the best underground acts around, Dirty Rotten Imbeciles. Reason still hadn't been released in the United States during the tour. This caused problems. Drummer Mike Owen quits supposedly to join the Navy. Chad Smith replaces Owen on drums.

Finally in 1991, Anacrusis gets the proper studio treatment they deserve. "Manic Impressions" was recorded at Royal Recorders in Lake Geneva, WI. The album is as complex as it is deep and is generally well received by critics and fans alike. Lengthy touring with Overkill, Megadeth, and others followed.

Back home to write new material for a new album, drummer Paul Miles steps in for Mike Owen. 1993's "Screams and Whispers" pushes the band's sound even farther than they had taken it on "Manic Impressions". Synths are used in the production and incorporate something new into the already complicated and rich sound Anacrusis had. The album benefits heavily from the soundboard hand of one of the best metal producers of all time: Bill Metoyer. The band supports Death for their "Individual Thought Patterns" European tour. (R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner.) Shortly after, Anacrusis is disbanded feeling that they had taken their sound far enough, plagued by the problems of record company distribution, and the fact that they couldn't reach a wider audience.

What you have with Anacrusis in four out-of-print albums is a criminally underrated band among peers that were too often touted. Make no mistake about it though, Anacrusis had a very unique voice in Thrash metal with a sound that often incorporated 70s prog-rock influences (among other styles) into their sound.

In another note, we salute all the fallen metal heads including but not limited to: Chuck Schuldiner, Jesse Pintado, Tony Bono, Cliff Burton, and David Wayne among many others.