It technically wasn’t difficult for Brand of Sacrifice to bridge the gape between anime and metal. When they decided to base their debut album, 2019’s God Hand, on the much-loved manga and anime Berserk, the Canadian five-piece had plenty of material to work with that matched their crushing, elaborate deathcore sound — demonic monsters, epic soldiers fighting them, and a betrayal of humanity and love, just to name a few things. But now, with the approach of their new record Lifeblood, one wonders if Brand of Sacrifice feel they’ve become pigeonholed — the anime death metal band, as it were.
“I don’t necessarily think that,” says frontman Kyle Anderson. “We may not even dabble in that with our next material. There’s also bands like Shadow of Intent, who started off themed around the game Halo, and now they dabble in all different types of subject matter. I was the one who sort of came up with that idea, to have a Berserk-themed album initially. The band was actually not supposed to be anything serious at the time. I just wanted to make a cool LP themed around my favorite manga and anime, and we saw some traction, which was mindblowing to me. As far as the anime side goes, it’s mostly me — the other guys are not so much fans.”
The band don’t need to worry — Lifeblood is so authentic, technical, and absolutely punishing that fans will love it no matter what they watch in their spare time. But for Kyle, anime isn’t just some novel musical topic, it’s an art form he deeply enjoys. Which is why, when we asked him to list the 10 most metal scenes in anime history, his selections were not a lot of gut-ripping tentacle porn, but moments of dramatic effect and emotional darkness.
“If you look at metal music itself, it’s more than just a song being heavy,” explains Kyle. “There’s gotta be more than that as far as resonance goes, whether you identity with the lyrics or the way that a certain tone is used vocally to portray that message — I think that’s really important. I think the same is true for anime. Growing up, when my tastes were a little less seasoned, I wanted to see the most violent and crazy anime. But then a lot of the times, you find a lot more within it as far as the subject matter and story goes. These are things that today, even though I first saw them as a teenager, have still made an impact on me. They’re very well-written segments from great shows.”
Here are Kyle’s picks for the 10 most metal anime scenes around…
Trigun – Vash The Stampede kills Legato
“Trigun was very popular in the late-90s, early 2000s. There’s this scene where the main character shoots another character named Legato. Vash doesn’t like to actually shoot people directly — he shoots around people and dodges bullets. He doesn’t like violence in that sense. So in this case he actually shoots somebody. It’s a pivotal moment that leads to the final confrontation with his own brother, and it’s this huge moral dilemma. I thought that was pretty interesting, and pretty metal as well.”
One Punch Man – Saitama vs. Boros
“It’s from the first season; it’s one of the last battles that occurs there. The character Saitama meets someone with a similar backstory — obviously, the evil version — but he doesn’t die with one punch. It’s a pretty cool battle just to watch, and a pretty cool scene in general.”
Code Geass – Lelouch’s Global Proclamation
“At this point, the main character has become the dictator of the free world — well, not the free world, now — and he has this one line where he does a broadcast over every type of medium, and he says, ‘Attention, entire world! Hear my proclamation — I am Lelouch the Britannia, Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, and your only ruler!’ I thought that was pretty badass. Kind of a high note, there.”
Death Note – Light kills L
“That story obviously has a long give-and-take from Light and L, as far as Light’s trying not to get caught while using the Death Note and executing people. L is getting closer and closer until he figures it out. Ultimately, Light kills him, which is kind of a big moment.”
Attack On Titan – Eren’s mother gets eaten
“It’s a pretty shocking moment. She gets eaten in front of his eyes, which sets the premise of the show in motion. We see the back story of the main character there.”
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – Jotaro vs. Dio
“This is very memed online, because of the line, ‘Oh, you’re approaching me?’ from that fight scene. I think it’s memed for a good reason, as it’s a good use of the stands from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.”
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – The Chimera
“Another one is when the Chimera, a combination of a little girl and her dog, is revealed on Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. She speaks out to the main protagonist, Edward Elric, and it’s just really shocking and dark moment in general, to see that someone’s father would use his own daughter and their dog for experimentation with alchemy. I remember seeing that as a kid and being absolutely rattled by that.”
Akira – Bike slide and transformation
“Sort of a badass moment that’s used in every form of cinema these days. It’s used in The Matrix, it’s used in any action cartoon as well. It’s very iconic, and has had a huge impact on film and creative mediums in general. And if I had to add to that, I’d say the transformation later on in the series, towards the end. “
Hunter x Hunter – Gon’s Rage
“It’s when the main character Gon finds out his mentor gets killed, and his rage grows, and he transforms into an adult version of himself, but in the process he cuts his lifespan in half. And then he goes crazy with the rage!”
Berserk – The Eclipse
“It’s one of the most iconic scenes in anime to me, and part of why I do this now. I remember I saw that when I was 16 years old. I was working at Dominos Pizza at the time, and I decided to watch the last episode of Berserk before I went in for my shift, and I was just absolutely rattled the whole time, replaying it in my head. It’s funny to think that all these years later, it still has an impact on me personally.”
Brand of Sacrifice’s Lifeblood is out March 5th via Blood Blast Distribution, and is available for preorder.
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Words by Chris Krovatin
