Search - Ankla :: Steep Trails (Dig)

Heavy, Aggressive, Brutal and quite catchy - What more do yo

Concatenation | West Lin, OR ,United States | 12/03/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I first heard Ankla on Sirius Satellite's "Hard Attack" channel, I was immediatley intrigued by the sound and was bobbing my head to its modern metal/extreme metal hybrid sound. Then when I heard that Ramon Ortiz from the great Puerto Rican metal band "Puya" left after their breakup to start a new band and go in a heavier and more aggressive direction, I knew I would be checking this out and I'm glad I did.



Though it's heritage comes from Puya, this band is much heavier and really sounds nothing like Puya, except in some of the latin influence and especially percussion. I would say Ankla's sound is closer to Slipknot at their heaviest in the Iowa era, crossed with some unrelenting assault via bands like Fear Factory or Strapping Young Lad. Throw in a few actual blast beats and well placed death metal growls here and there, and its enough for this old school death metal fan to throw up the horns when I'm cranking Ankla in my car. Exellent album opener "Sinking" is a great example of all these elements coming together, including me throwing up the horns.



Guitars are downtuned and very heavy, drums are pummeling and fast in most cases, but can also slow it down and incorporate latin influenced beats and rhythms. The expanded percussion section really incorporate itself naturally into Ankla's heavy approach, just as it did well with Puya.



Vocally, Ikaro Stafford Santana delivers a solid performance. A somewhat standard throaty yell/scream type voice common in modern metal, but hits the right beats and arranges them in ways that, unlike many modern run of the mill metal releases, really help the vocals become an asset rather than a detriment. The occasional death metal guttural growls are well placed and, quite frankly, fun for the whole family.



A word on album production: Slick and polished. A well produced record with weight, heaviness and clarity. Some may feel it's a bit too polished, especially among very fickle metal fans, but to me it just sounds GOOD.



Overall, Ankla isn't breaking new ground here, but they do deliver an aggressive, at times brutal and catchy album with latin elements. A fun listen that deserves to be cranked up very, very loudly. It should appeal to both fans of modern metal and fans of more extreme stuff. Good enough to make it in my top 10 metal records of the year.



Recommended tracks to test the Ankla waters: "Sinking", "Deceit"."

Let's talk about heavy

DCL | Lexington, KY | 09/26/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As I sit here at work listening to the onslaught of the heavy heavy music of ankla I can't help but to bang my head to this great cd. Ankla is everything that heavy music should be and more! First of all, all of the elements of a good metal cd are here: a singer that has great pipes to yell and grunt, a drummer that has a faster double kick than a machine gun fires, and a guitarist that can shred! Ramon Ortiz (guitarist) started this band after leaving Puya with the dream of creating a heavier band...well, he definitely succeeded!!!



The special thing about Ankla is that they infuse the musical sounds of Ortiz's native Puerto Rico in perfectly with the heavy sound they are creating. Where other "metal" bands try to follow a tired formula of heavy singing and music broken up by light guitar and pop vocals, Ankla seperates themselves from the masses by staying heavy and incorporating latin rhythm.



The only reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars is because I think a latin presence could be established a bit more to make this cd even more original! But I see great things for this band if they can keep it together.



Great CD for metal fans, this band is very good at what they do!!! I can't wait to see them live!"

PuYA meets agresive metal

G. Alberti | Ponce Puerto Rico | 08/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
First of all I'm already see this band playing live and let me tell you the mosh pit is intense as hell, with songs like flush and your grace make me sick.

This band is a creation of former puya guitar player Ramón Ortiz and you see some similar riffs of puya here but its a different band.

The band plays more aggressive metal and more death metal.

One of the best cd I've heard in a long time.

"