Anata
The Conductors Departure
Earache/Wicked World

With the opening notes of ‘Downward Spiral Into Madness’, the first track found on the fourth and latest offering, ‘The Conductors Departure’, from prolific riff mongering Swedes Anata, you can feel that this is going to be yet another solid Anata effort. Keeping their trademark clinical riffing sound and their dry, pristine production focusing on audibility and maximising their sonic assault, Anata keep the technicality and brutality above par without compromising a highly audible and professional production job.

The music itself is deeply routed in the technical death metal vein, emphasising complex song structures and finger-knotting riffing techniques that often spiral in many an unexpected direction. ‘Complete Demise’ ‘Better Grieved Than Fooled’ and ‘Cold Heart Forged In Hell’ really stand by this albums moniker, as it sounds truly like the conductor has departed. There are a total of 10 tracks on this record, all above the 4 minute mark and extending to a considerably enduring 8 minutes on the final track. However it’s rare that you will find yourself bored listening to ‘The Conductors Departure’, as Anata have put heavy focus into dynamics on this record in comparison to their last release, ‘Under a Stone With No Inscription’, which tended to become all too self similar all too fast. The addition of an instrumental track nearing the end of ‘The Conductors…’ is proof of the bands matured understanding of their previous error, and keeps the listener interested instead of pummelled out of existence in a flurry of high speed riffs and blasts.

The drumming on this record is very tight, as it puts a high emphasis on time signature change and dynamics between blasts and trudging double-kick rumbling to get the songs through. From the furious gravity of ‘Renunciation’ to the slow and tempered polyrhythms of ‘The Great Juggler’, the drumming remains solid at all times and holds the band together perfectly.

Anata have for a long time been a very underestimated band despite being on a major label for some time now. This album just goes to show that technicality and proficiency can be merged with heart and emotion in music, which is something relatively unaccepted in metal circles where it’s either ‘brutal’, or technical. Anata are doing something new and innovative, and it’s time to take notice.