This album is divided into three chapters and it’s an intelligent look at the state of humanity currently, told by four musicians with a penchant for philosophy and deep, hard-hitting progressive music.
Following a harmonious introduction with some affecting tribal influences, ‘The Day that Guilt Turned White’ offers an exciting blend of heavy rock and classical influences that leads into the powerful and ferocious ‘Feed a PETA Member to a Starving Child in Africa’ which mixes exhilarating death metal influences and thought-provoking samples for a bulldozing standout that will ignite the senses.
‘T.ruthless’ leads us into the final track of the first chapter entitled ‘Avenue of the Queen’ which is a absolute powerhouse made up of bulldozing beats and driving guitars that will excite you as they smack you in the ear repeatedly accompanied by cutting vocals and a massive mosh-ready chorus. ‘Chapter II’ is a stunning keyboard-orientated lead into ‘The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body’ which sees Cradle Of Filth-style classical elements work with bold guitars and the quality drumming for a varied and schizophrenic offering with some impressive vocal variation that shows off the real depth and potential within the group.
‘Takeover’ offers a beautiful ambience with some classic shredding and astounding keyboard lines for a real standout that reminds of Opeth at their best. Follow-up tune ‘Branded by Black Water’ again sees the band utilise skyscraping keyboards and phenomenal vocal variation to get their message across. This is the kind of track that sees the band cross genres, and there’s something in individual parts of this pulsating effort that will appeal to fans of both alternative rock, metal and even Industrial. ‘Branded By…’ is by far the album’s standout as it has everything a modern metal fan could want for.
‘Chapter III’ is an abrasive instrumental metal beast that will shove you directly into your own personal pit ready for ‘Defiant We Stand’ which is a clear ‘fuck you’ to the world leaders who should be taking care of their public. Again, this one sees the band make a solid attempt to access as many people as possible by amalgamating elements of rock and metal for a positive result that will surely obliterate crowds within the live arena. On ‘The Orchid’ Rhiis D. Lopez‘s vocals are at their best while the drums assault the ears and the frighteningly sharp guitars take no prisoners.You will be blown away by this tune. There’s no doubt, just be ready. ‘Chapter IV’ is a blistering progressive ditty that could be the soundtrack to one of your most intense nightmares and it acts as a fitting precursor for ‘Step Back’ (a cover of Henry Rollins) which features My Ruin’s Tairrie B. on guest vocals and her partner Mick Murphy on guitar. This one is a middle finger to any doubters the band may have had in the past, and it shows a different side to them musically. Murphy’s guitar work soars high above ferocious dual vocals and clever beats for a southern-rock tinged behemoth to close-off this impressive body of work.
While the material on ‘Volume I’ as a whole may not appeal to everyone on the Alternative scene, it cannot be questioned that this four-piece create innovative and exciting progressive sounds that should get the heavy heart racing. Ana Kefr need to be recognised for the intelligent, loud and provocative music that they make and we are sure that they will be on festival stages over here sometime soon.
For fans of: My Ruin, Dimmu Borgir, In Flames
****/5
For more information visit the band’s Myspace.
