Rhiis D. Lopez, frontman for the Los Angeles-based extreme prog metal act ANA KEFR, discusses the band's forthcoming album, The Burial Tree (II) in a new interview with BW&BK; scribe Carl Begai. An excerpt is available below.

“I’d say the new album is a little bit closer to extreme metal. Everything has been stepped up a lot as far as the musicianship and the songwriting. When it became just Kyle and I, we didn’t have any other opinions to hold us back anymore. We just started writing what we’d wanted to write all along. It’s harder, it’s blacker, everything has been turned up to a more intense level. There are some elements on the new album that weren’t there at all on Volume I. We’ve got Brendan (Moore), for example, who can shred on saxophone just as well as he shreds on guitar (laughs).”

Given the psycho-schizo nature of Volume I, it comes as no surprise to hear the band had no problem with adding a saxophone to their studio arsenal.

“Yeah, it’s on the album. Not every song, obviously, but there are two tracks with a sax on them. We figured that if we’ve got it we might as well use it a little bit. I’ve been learning the clarinet, so we’ve put it on the album as well (laughs).”
“I remember Tairrie B. Murphy (MY RUIN) asking me what Ana Kefr's sound was,” he adds, “and I guess it’s some kind of progressive metal. And she said ‘Yeah, but that sounds boring…’ (laughs). We’ve got that progressive vibe going, but we just do it a little bit differently from what you normally associate with progressive metal.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Ana Kefr recently revealed their new album's full cover, title and track-listing on a new site dedicated to the band. The Burial Tree (II) is Ana Kefr's second full-length album, the follow up to 2009's debut, Volume 1, and following the single 'Tonight We Watch The Children Fucking Burn' (see video below).

Recorded at Lunch-Box Studios in Perris, California, The Burial Tree (II) features Ana Kefr's new lineup - with founding members Rhiis D. Lopez (lead vocals, keys, clarinet) and Kyle Coughran (rhythm guitar, vocals), and new percussionist Shane Dawson, bassist Alphonso Jimenez and lead guitarist, saxophonist and vocalist Brendan Moore.

The album, to be released on May 3rd, was produced and mixed by Ana Kefr and David Franklin, engineered by David Franklin.

The cover art ("The Watcher") was created by Dutch artist Bianca Van Der Werf. Check it out below:

The official tracklisting:

'Ash-Shahid'

'Emago'

'Monody'

'In The House Of Distorted Mirrors'

'Thaumatrope'

'Bathos And The Iconoclast'

'The Zephirus Circus'

'Jeremiad'

'Apoptosis'

'Parasites'

'Paedophilanthrope'

'Fragment'

'The Blackening'

'The Collector'

Check out the band's new website at this location.