ANATA were formed in Sweden in 1993 and "Under a Stone with No Inscription" is already their third album (their first on Earache). I have heard none of their previous records, but maybe that's because except for the occasional record (like ACKERCOCKE's latest) I pretty much stopped following most extreme metal. Bands like DIMMU BORGIR and CRADLE OF FILTH bore me. The occasional snippets of some of the more underground stuff I've heard (mostly Scandinavian black metal bands) do sound interesting but not enough to totally immerse myself in 'the scene'. During the late 80's/early 90's I was into the really extreme stuff and in fact I still own all of my thrash/black/death/hardcore-records from those days. But back then it was something new, exciting, even (dare I say) 'fresh'. It's not that I look down on it now, but my musical horizon has broadened considerably since then and I guess I'm not that easily impressed anymore in terms of “musical extremity'. But I digress.

The first thing I hear when album openers "Shackled To Guilt" and "A Problem Yet to be Solved" blast through my living room is that ANATA does not sound like your average contemporary death metal band. In fact riff-wise I'm reminded of classic German thrash metal, most notably "Terrible Certainty"-era KREATOR. They didn't even feel the need to downtune their guitars. The death metal vibe comes from the blast beats and the grunting vocals. The riffs are brutal yet melodic and the drumming is as tight as tight can be. Tracks such as "Entropy Within", Sewerages of the Mind", "Under the Debris" and the excellent "The Drowning" even have some semi-prog leanings. It's on these tracks that ANATA get pretty close to CARCASS-territory, and that's no mild praise. Did I mention that there are some great twin guitar parts as well?

If there is a problem' I have with the album it's the same problem that I have with a lot of today's extreme metal; I could do with fewer blast beats. Back when bands like NAPALM DEATH, CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER, MESSIAH and LÄRM tried this, it sounded ok. The music was chaotic and extreme to begin with and that was the point. But when I hear a truly excellent and complex metal riff, a sound that's akin to a woodpecker hammering your eardrum is kinda distracting. In my opinion, the only band who could perfectly balance technical riffing with extreme rhythms was CARCASS (and maybe MORBID ANGEL). But like I said, ANATA do get pretty close to CARCASS at times and near the end their songs and rhythms do become a lot more varied. On the whole I have to say this is a pretty strong piece of death/thrash metal and if there's any justice in this world we probably haven't heard the last of ANATA yet.

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: www.anata.se

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