Long-in-tooth Decibel readers will likely recall that Anata’s 2004 album Under a Stone with No Inscription actually cracked our first-ever Top 40 Albums of the Year list at #33… slightly behind, um, Noxagt and the Blood Brothers.
While we should take this opportunity to apologize to Anata for that placement, we’re going to instead turn the clock back even further to 1998 and focus on the tech death crew’s classic debut album, The Infernal Depths of Hatred. Because, well, pre-orders for the vinyl LP reissue through Kaotoxin Records start today (the album will be officially released in October).
“We’re really excited to finally see one of our albums released on vinyl for the first time!” bassist Henrik Drake tells Decibel. “We hope you will enjoy this very special and limited reissue while waiting for the next release: our long-awaited new album.”
“I still remember the day I went to the local records store back in 1998 (that’s how you did it, back then) to grab a copy of The Infernal Depths of Hatred,” says Kaotoxin records label manager Nico. “I listened to a song ‘Under Azure Skies’ on some magazine’s cover-mount CD comp—that’s how you knew about stuff, back then—and got completely blown away by the opening riff, reminding me the intricate riffing, even if an other style, by one of my favorite bands ever, Mercyless (Give their 1993 Coloured Funeral album a spin!). That riff was enough for me to actually get the album just released by this then small, starting French label (I think it was their 11th release or something, then), Season of Mist. Fact is that the album was way more than I thought it was at first: not only did it feature this intricate, heavy and brutal riffing, but it was also the missing link between then then trending heavy, sped up, ‘Swedish Melo-Death’ (all No Fashion Records and Black Sun Records releases from back then) and a darker, more brutal, U.S.-inspired kind of death metal (think about Morbid Angel and early-Suffocation). It was really standing out and, nearly twenty years after its initial release, Anata’s still definitely a one-of-its-own-kind band, reason why we picked up this album for reissue and are so proud of doing so on vinyl for the first time ever! Enjoy!”
Turn back the clock with a full stream of “Under Azure Skies” below and pre-order the LP here.
