Los Angeles-based ANA KEFR have checked in with the following update:

"Ana Kefr frontman and rhythm guitarist, Rhiis D. Lopez and Kyle Coughran respectively, were interviewed over-the-phone by DJ Plague of Pennsylvania's Metal Assault Radio, an internet radio station dedicated to presenting uncensored tracks from cutting edge bands, major label and independent. We've put this interview to video and photography footage taken from Rhiis' time in the Middle East and studio footage from the making of Volume 1, we hope you enjoy it!

In the meantime, get your tickets now for our two upcoming shows. Next Friday, April 23rd, we're performing at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim for $10, with limited ticket availability. And then we are performing on May 1st with DEATH BY STEREO at the Vibe in Riverside, also $10. Check our show calendar for updates. Contact us for tickets."

The band has added a show for Los Angeles on May 30th to their schedule. It is now as follows:

April

23 - Chain Reaction - Anaheim, California

May

1 - The Vibe - Riverside, California (with Death by Stereo)
30 - The Whisky A Go-Go - Los Angeles, California

Lopez recently spoke with BW&BK; scribe Carl Begai about the band's debut album, Volume 1, and their plans for the future. An excerpt from the story is available below, with Lopez commenting on comparisons made between the band and acts like DIMMU BORGIR and VOIVOD:

“Dimmu Borgir and Voivod happen to be two great bands, so comparisons like that are a big compliment,” says Lopez. “Ana Kefr’s sound is actually the product of both myself and Kyle (Coughran / rhythm guitars). Kyle and I both come from diverse musical backgrounds, we’ve grown up listening to artists from every genre you can imagine. As far as any ‘off-the-wall strangeness’, there’s not really a point to writing music, being in a band, performing or anything else if you’re just going to rip off someone else. I understand being inspired by other artists, but sounding like another act is kind of like being in a touring karaoke band – it doesn’t feel artistically honest. I’d rather have a flawed original work than a perfected forgery. Sitting down to the writing table, so to speak, all I know is that we write what we want to hear. We’ve never started out saying 'Let’s write a song that sounds like so-and-so could write it;' in fact we throw ideas away if they sound like they belong in someone else’s musical portfolio.”

Along with sharpening Ana Kefr’s live show the focus now is on album #2, with Lopez deep in writing mode. Fans who think they know what to expect when the album finally surfaces… think again.

“We’re approaching our next album differently than we did with Volume 1, now we can take the time and invest a lot of thought, consideration and planning into it so that it is exactly what we want it to be. With Volume 1, I wrote the lyrics as the music was completed. With our next release I’m a lot more involved musically and am focusing purely on the music before I set words to any of it. The lyrics will be the final piece of the puzzle for the next album, but I’ve already been polishing out ideas and concepts for quite a while now.”
“Musically, the next album is a lot heavier, darker, scarier sounding, technical, and a whole lot weirder. It’s actually a lot different from Volume 1; it’s as if we found what we were looking for in music and it just happens to be a lot more intense than any of the previous material. I couldn’t even compare the newer music being written to anything anyone has heard already because it’s honestly unexplainable. It still sounds like Ana Kefr, but it sounds like Ana Kefr got a lot angrier, way more epic, significantly darker, started bringing in some new artistic dynamics, and with things overall more mature musically. I think it’ll definitely surprise people, but I’m confident that it’s going to be our best work yet. As far as the focus, I’m keeping quiet about this until we get closer to having it complete, mostly because I change my mind so much that if I put anything out there and suddenly recant then I’ll feel like an idiot.”

Go to this location for the complete story.