hspace=5>Ana Kefr
The Burial Tree II

Every so often a record comes along that unites devotees of the extreme, boundary pushing and rather unhinged fringes of metal in wide-eyed, frothing-at-the-mouth, ‘oh my fucking god’ devotion. Californian extreme metallers Ana Kefr have produced one such work in ‘The Burial Tree (II)’, a release of phenomenal ambition and grand vision from a band far more interested in satisfying their own creative impulses than jumping through the prescribed generic hoops. In more ways than one, this is huge.

Ana Kefr (whose name means ‘I Am Infidel’ in Arabic, don’t ya know) are obviously obsessed with the notion of making their own path – and when the results are as brain-frazzlingly fascinating as this, that’s definitely a good thing. Bringing an array of unconventional instrumentation and the kind of artistic mindset you’d expect from a soundtrack composer to the metallic table, they’re producing something genuinely fresh – even if its constituent parts are well worn. ‘Emago’ and the brilliantly named ‘Pardophilanthrope’ capture the infidels at their most ferocious, all guttural screams and skull-crushing drums, but though they can be heavier than a herd of concrete buffalo when they want to be, they’ve a lot of other strings to their bow too, even punchy, sub-three-minute tracks like ‘Bathos And The Iconoclast’ packing in loads of melody and ambience, as well as the requisite aggression.

With a philosophical lyrical bent (grossly simplified, their message seems to be ‘think for yourself’), this is interesting fare conceptually as well as musically – there’s so much packed into the hour and a bit of ‘The Burial Tree (II)’ that you’ll need months to fathom it all. In these times of instant gratification, bands with the ambition and wherewithal to make something as vast, complex, and unpredictable as this record are more important than ever, and we’ve got our fingers crossed that they find the recognition they deserve.

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Review by Rob Sayce