Band: Anima
Title: Enter The Killzone
Label: Metal Blade Records
Distribution: Rough Trade Benelux.
Release date: 26/02/2010
Review: CD

The Germans of Anima initially started four and a half years ago as Metmachines, after a short while they changed this moniker into Today Heaven’s Dying, and finally they became Anima, after some line-up changes. The band gained lots of positive reactions in their home country, they did perform a lot, and finally, after a demo-MCD (Souls Of The Decedents), they signed to All Life Ends Records. The recording of a mini-album, The Daily Grind, unfortunately didn’t get released because of financial problems with the label, but when Anima signed to major Metal Blade, the effective release became a fact (for this review, see the update on September 17th 2008).
The Daily Grind was a strong recording, yet it sort of lacked of having an own face. In the case of Enter The Killzone it is, more or less, the same case; however, this recording is much more varying, much stronger and it does have a clear vision, a specific direction the band wants to go. Still the album sounds American, but the Thrash elements within the Death Metal have been replaced by technical semi-grinding excellence, blasting and hammering. The technical approach is much stronger too. Damn, some riffs are so unique, so well-thought, and the whole rhythm section is as powerful and overpowering as a Japanese tank. And more than before, the whole picture fits. Not one single moment I can detect an infantile would-be attitude – on the contrary, in spite of the young average age of the members, this album does sound enormously mature. Enter The Killzone consists of well-thought and dynamic tracks, an energetic spirit, strong song structures, some excellent tempo- and composition-changes (Black Night amongst others) and it comes with a brutality that equals an intelligence closely related to the better scenes (Holland, USA, Czech Republic, Sweden, Belgium etc).
Oh yes, and what about Ultra-highlight XXXIII to end the album with?
I knew this band was able to improve their former effort, but I couldn’t expect they would do it with so much grandeur. Highly recommended to fans of intense and technical Blast / Death / Thrash / Grind Metaltralala…
Duration: forty one minutes.

84/100

Ivan Tibos.