The Conductor's Departure

When you think about Technical Death Metal, to your mind first get the thoughts of Necrophagist, Spawn Of Possession or Beneath the Massacre, but if you don't know Anata, then start collecting CD's, 'cause Anata is one of the better bands in Technical Death Metal these days. They completely succeed in combining the influence of Morbid Angel with passion for classical influences and fast Swedish Death Metal, non of the Melodic Goethenburg style. I was fascinated at first listening through this release; it simply blew me away, just as Necrophagist did. Although using complex patterns and breakdowns in their arrangements, Anata still impress with the marvellous sound of their Death Metal. There is no way you can get lost in the amounts of genuine chords and drum work. Only more and more fascinated by the harmonies the band creates with their play.

Like I said before, Anata is obviously influenced by Morbid Angel, like most bands in Death Metal, but unlike the majority of them, Anata tends to provide a sound of their own, developed from the influence of Morbid Angel. All that I ever missed in Morbid Angel, I find done better and more efficient and incredibly proficient in Anata's 'The Conductor's Departure', which just bursts with creative melodies and still keeps hard riff textures. All songs on 'The Conductor's Departure' have a sad. almost grieving undertone, fro the lyrics are mostly about grieving, mourning and love struggles, but Anata never let go of brutality. The clean and over the top perfect production on this release leaves no place for complaining or unsatisfied listeners. It really seems that Earache found a great band to replace all the other fantastic bands that left Earache years ago.

My biggest compliments go to the guitarists, Fredrik Schälin and Andreas Allenmark, extremely talented and skilled, the best for this job, and also the drummer Conny Pettersson. His drum work is unbelievable, he jumps from blastings to slow strokes, and plays with sucha feeling, that Pete Sandoval is a lumberjack compared to him. And this is what makes this band, and especially this release genuine - feeling and passion in creating such crushing and wonderful music. You are simply forced to listen through the whole release, and repeat this at least ten times a day, until you can recall every riff and drum beat from the CD. And even then you will state that this is more than just a regular release, but a definite release. I can't say that I doubt Anata will be able to do better than this another time, but they will have to work harder to surprise with something in the vein of a perfect release.