Annotations of an Autopsy Want to Eradicate Everything You Know

For Annotations of an Autopsy guitarist Jamie Sweeney, Jan. 22 marks "the start of a new era" for the British death metal act, for it is on that day that AOAA releases its sophomore LP, 'The Reign of Darkness.' The album, Sweeney tells Noisecreep, is the one he'd always envisioned AOAA writing. "It's the sound we've been looking for," he explained to Noisecreep. "With all our new members, we've collaborated together and created an album that is Annotations of an Autopsy."

The album was mixed by Hate Eternal's Erik Rutan, who has helmed efforts from Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel, among others. And of course, 'Reign' is a deviant overdose of brutal complexity that's as tight as it is devastating. The disc is easily one of 2010's early frontrunners for best of the year. Thankfully, Rutan didn't just mix the record, but also contributed his guitars to the track 'Bone Crown.'

According to Sweeney, 'The Reign of Darkness' is a concept album insomuch as the lyrical content tends to revolve around one idea: "That everything you've known about existence come falling down. Law, religions, space...It's all been a lie, if you will, and you just found out about it, and its so much to take in." Basically, like a more extreme version of a kid discovering Santa doesn't exist. Rutan seemed the perfect man for the mix.

"We were on tour with Job for a Cowboy last year and Hate Eternal, and we just clicked with Erik," he recalls. "It wasn't until the end of the recording that we thought, 'Hey, let's get Rutan to mix the album,' and he was up for it. We just went from there. We got in with him really well, and now, he's a great friend of ours."

The band has a full European tour coming up in March and hopes to be in the States this summer. We're looking at you, Kevin Lyman. Of course, it would be awesome to see a band like Annotations on Mayhem, seeing as they weren't allowed to enter the country for that recent run with the Faceless and Dying Fetus.

"Our visas took so long, but we're working on getting back to the States as soon as we can," says Sweeney. "We're just waiting for the right tour. But I'm confident we will be over in America in the next few months."