Ankor – Shoganai

I will admit that Ankor has been a guilty pleasure of mine for a number of years now. I found them in 2017 after the release of “Beyond The Silence of These Years“, and while I liked some of their riffs and vocal lines, they weren’t really going past the phase of comfortable dopamine music for me. Something about the teenager-ish heartbreaky aesthetic and their drive to make metal covers of various pop songs just made it hard for me to take them seriously. But the release of their single “Prisoner” hit differently. It was more technical, heavier, darker, and less predictable. What followed was a stream of single releases that came together into the so-called “mini-album”, “Shoganai“, which, despite its reduced length, is quite a journey. And with each new single, my pleasure was increasingly less guilty.

I suppose every band that takes itself seriously is constantly evolving, and for Ankor, what that means is that their songwriting, emotional delivery and technical abilities have not only improved, but also started coming together in a more coherent and meaningful way. On top of that, this is their first release featuring Eleni Nota behind the drum kit, and I think that also played a strong role in their evolution.

Metalcore is one of the most generic and predictable subgenres of metal, usually relying on poppy choruses, formulaic alternations of clean and harsh vocals, and heavy use of electronic elements and samples. I’ve always had the impression that it’s one of the most difficult genres to stand out in creatively, due to it’s templated and predictable nature. But despite not exactly breaking most of the metalcore tropes, this album stood out to me. It feels different, both in terms of composition and emotional aesthetics.

Ankor – Darkbeat

For one, drummer Eleni Nota has previously been involved with thrash metal bands like Nervosa and Desolate Plains, as well as modern progressive metal and metalcore (Mask of Prospero and now Ankor). I feel like this puts her playing style somewhere in between the “traditional metal” genres and metalcore. The consequence is that despite the modern sound and electronic backing tracks on Shoganai, there are moments that strongly tick the old-school metal itch in exactly the right way. I’m thinking specifically of the running pace on ‘Venom’ and the slappy, syncopated moments on ‘Prisoner’, the heaviest tracks on the album. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not making the case that traditional metal is better than the newer genres, but rather that it’s very refreshing to see elements of one, present in the context of the other. It makes the music less predictable, more surprising and also enables more variability in the emotional display. The guitars sometimes follow along to the death/thrash metal tendencies on the drums, resulting in some very aggressive and angry sections (‘Venom’).

But Ankor still carries the poppy element and a lot of fragility in their melodic choices, particularly with regards to samples, guitar leads and vocal lines. Having such aggressive sections placed side by side with hearty and vulnerable moments could cause some emotional incoherence, unless the concept wasn’t actually rooted in emotional duality and volatility. So let’s get into that.

Ankor – Oblivion

With their videos, Ankor made it clear that these songs are episodes of a broader story. Visually, we’re presented with a fairly straightforward narrative: the sudden loss of a romantic partner and the emotional struggles that follow, from desperation and denial (‘Prisoner’, ‘Oblivion’) to acceptance and healing (‘Embers’, ‘Shoganai’). But after the full album was released, I distanced myself from the videos and looked at the musical content on its own. The cool thing is that lyrically and emotionally, these songs can apply to traumas, grief, loss and inner struggle on a much broader scale than the somewhat spoon-fed sequence of events we were given in the videos. Rather than describing events in a narrative fashion, the songs are focused on the internal processes, making use of clever metaphors and imagery. “Locked myself inside the mirror again” is one of my favourite lines (‘Prisoner’).

When listening to the album in full, each song feels like the coherent next phase after the previous one, making for a very smooth and immersive listening experience. The switch from ‘Stereo’ to ‘Venom’ is one of my favourite moments on the album. “Stereo” focuses on avoidance and coping, closing the song on melancholic vocals lines over a party beat which creates a drowsy emotional haze. You get to fade into that feeling only to then feel like you’re dumped in a bucket of cold water and snapped into fight or flight mode with the kick-off to “Venom”. It’s such a jarring contrast but it makes so much sense.

Ankor – Venom

Throughout the songs, Jessie Williams‘ vocals constantly alternate between almost childish fragility in the clean vocals and fractured anger in the screams, beautifully depicting the emotional instability of the process. The use of layering also creates the sense of internal voices overwhelming the protagonist (the whispers in ‘Stereo’ are a particularly clever touch). Some soaring high belting moments are also present (closing to ‘Oblivion’ and ‘Venom’) where the vulnerable emotions fully take the forefront.

The electronic component brings together dubstep and EDM influences with melodic soundtrack lines, creating a cinematic and visual experience of the songs. I especially loved the combination of electronic buildups paired with crescendo snare rolls in ‘Darkbeat’. On the final track, ‘Shoganai’ we also get a powerful orchestral elements, making the only song on the album that I’d describe as “epic”. This one also gives us a vocal section from guitarist David Romeu as well as revisiting certain lines for all of the previous songs to wrap everything up. The heavy melancholy never disappears, but by the end of the album, the emotions change from frantic and scattered to clear and coherent, suggesting a form of coming to terms with what has happened, and finding the strength to carry on.

Ankor – Embers

I will admit there are still some elements I don’t like. Apart from a few lead sections, the guitars feel mostly functional, and the tone on drums and guitars isn’t my favourite. I feel like it could use more attack and clarity. But overall, I’m very impressed. It takes more for a band to change an already formed opinion than to make a positive first impression. But that’s just what Ankor did for me with ‘Shoganai’, and for that reason I’d encourage any reader to give this album a chance.

Track List:

1. The World Is a Cruel Place… And It Is Also Very Beautiful (02:51)
2. Darkbeat (03:39)
3. Prisoner (03:58)
4. Oblivion (04:06)
5. Stereo (04:18)
6. Venom (03:37)
7. Embers (04:08)
8. Shoganai (05:17)