Anata is a

technical death metal Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Techni ...

band from

Varberg Varberg () is a locality and the seat of Varberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 35,782 inhabitants in 2019. Varberg and all of Halland are well known for their "typical west coast" sandy beaches. In Varberg the coast changes from ...

, Sweden that formed in 1993. To date, they have released two

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

s, four

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s and a split album with Bethzaida. In 2005, they completed recordings for an album titled ''The Conductor's Departure'', released in June 2006 on

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by rel ...

Wicked World Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by re ...

. Anata have toured Europe with death metal acts such as

Dismember Dismemberment is the act of cutting, ripping, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise disconnecting the limbs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with ...

Decapitated Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

Rotting Christ Rotting Christ is a Greek black metal band formed in 1987. They are noted for being one of the first black metal bands within this region, as well as a premier act within the European underground metal scene. They are also responsible for creat ...

, and

Psycroptic Psycroptic are an Australian technical death metal band formed in Hobart, Australia in 1999. Mainstay members are Dave Haley on drums and his brother Joe Haley on guitar. Their lead vocalist, Jason Peppiatt, joined in 2004. In 2008 they signe ...

. In 2006 Anata played at

Maryland Deathfest Maryland Deathfest (often abbreviated to MDF) is an annual American extreme metal festival founded in 2003 by Ryan Taylor and Evan Harting. The festival is held in Baltimore, Maryland during Memorial Day weekend, and it features many bands from ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, their first United States appearance to date. Anata have also performed at festivals in Europe such as Fuck the Commerce,

Neurotic Deathfest The Neurotic Deathfest was an annual music festival dedicated to death metal. Formerly known as the Rotterdam Deathfest, it was created by Neurotic Records and has since been relocated to Tilburg. Lineups 2015 edition (17–19 April) The event ...

, and Gothenburg Deathfest. Anata has remained inactive since Andreas Allenmark left in 2008.

Musical style

Their style employs significant use of dissonance, including

contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

structures employing whole- and

half-step A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest interval (music), musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most Consonance and dissonance#Dissonance, dissonant when sounded harmonically ...

harmony, as well as

dissonant In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...

chords. As their music relies greatly on melody and counterpoint, in contrast to most death metal bands who focus more on moving chords and percussive effects (especially complex

palm muting The palm mute is a playing technique for guitar and bass guitar, executed by placing the side of the picking hand below the little finger across the strings to be plucked, very close to the bridge, and then plucking the strings while the damp ...

patterns), they are sometimes labeled

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavine ...

. However, most fans consider this to be an inaccurate characterization, as the term generally refers to a particular style of death metal, namely, the "

Gothenburg metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

" sound pioneered by bands like In Flames and Dark Tranquillity, rather than simply death metal with a strong melodic element. Anata, though hailing from Sweden (considered the birthplace of melodic death metal), bears little resemblance to these bands; they bear a stronger resemblance to technical death metal pioneers such as Cynic and Atheist, who also employed a great deal of counterpoint (for both bands, the two guitars and bass are rarely playing the same part). However, Anata has little of the jazz fusion influences that Cynic or Atheist had, instead fusing the contrapuntal style with the modern technical death metal style of bands such as Psycroptic and Decapitated.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' The Infernal Depths of Hatred'' (CD, Season of Mist, 1998) * '' Dreams of Death and Dismay'' (CD, Season of Mist, 2001) * '' Under a Stone With No Inscription'' (CD, Wicked World, 2004) * '' The Conductor's Departure'' (CD, Wicked World, 2006)

Demos

* ''Bury Forever the Garden of Lie'' (Demo, 1995) * ''Vast Lands of My Infernal Dominion'' (Demo, 1997)

Split albums

* ''WAR Vol. II - Anata vs. Bethzaida'' (1999, split album with Bethzaida)

Members

Current members

* Fredrik Schälin − lead vocals,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(1993-present) * Henrik Drake − bass (1996-present) * Conny Pettersson − drums (2001-present)

Former members

* Mattias Svensson − guitar (1993–1996) * Martin Sjöstrand − bass (1993–1996) * Robert Petersson − drums (1993–2001) * Andreas Allenmark −

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

(1997–2008)

Timeline

ImageSize =width:800 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea =left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:0 Alignbars =justify DateFormat =mm/dd/yyyy Period =from:01/01/1993 till:07/01/2008 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1993 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1994 TimeAxis =orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend =orientation:horizontal position:bottom Colors= id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:backing value:pink legend:Backing_Vocals id:studio value:black legend:Studio_Albums id:other value:gray(0.5) legend:Demos/EPs id:bars value:gray(0.95) LineData= at:01/01/1995 color:other layer:back at:01/01/1997 color:other layer:back at:10/04/1998 color:black layer:back at:10/12/1999 color:other layer:back at:04/02/2001 color:black layer:back at:01/19/2004 color:black layer:back at:06/19/2006 color:black layer:back BackgroundColors= bars:bars BarData= bar:Fredrik text:"Fredrik Schälin" bar:Mattias text:"Mattias Svensson" bar:Andreas text:"Andreas Allenmark" bar:Martin text:"Martin Sjöstrand" bar:Henrik text:"Henrik Drake" bar:Robert text:"Robert Petersson" bar:Conny text:"Conny Pettersson" PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Fredrik from:01/01/1993 till:end color:guitar bar:Fredrik from:01/01/1993 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Mattias from:01/01/1993 till:12/01/1996 color:guitar bar:Andreas from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2008 color:guitar bar:Andreas from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2008 color:backing width:3 bar:Martin from:01/01/1993 till:04/01/1996 color:bass bar:Henrik from:04/01/1996 till:end color:bass bar:Robert from:01/01/1993 till:07/01/2001 color:drums bar:Conny from:07/01/2001 till:end color:drums

External links

Anata official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anata Swedish technical death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1993 Earache Records artists Season of Mist artists 1993 establishments in Sweden