Review: ANA – Motivated By Death

Eclipse Records – May 29^th, 2026

Reviewer – David Brighouse

This is the debut album from the Australian Symphonic Metal band. In a genre more usually associated with Europe this up-and-coming group from Melbourne has expanded the genre into what they call “couture metal” which adds high-fashion theatricality to the exacting musicianship.

Album opener and lead single ‘Hate Me‘, a song which explores the thin line between love and hate, starts with a tolling bell and swirling atmosphere before the drums and guitars crash in followed by the keyboards and then Anna Khristenko’s powerful vocals, a solid start.

Current single ‘Shadow Of Life‘ opens with a short spoken section then Josh hits us with the guitar riff which along with the pounding drums drives the song along, enhanced mid-song by a keyboard solo and finished off with some fine shredding. In contrast ‘You Loved Me More Than I Love Myself‘ is a dark ballad, which features passionate vocals and more great guitar playing. Cody Lamb takes his turn to kick-off ”Following The Wind‘ with rumbling bass which is quickly added to by the rest of the band to give the listener a real pummelling. ‘Eyes Of A Child‘ is the most bombastic song on the album with Anna using her full range and Mark Shi showing his keyboard prowess, which is also true on ‘Sick Love‘ but in a much gentler way for this emotional ballad.

The tolling bell is again used to open ‘Papa‘ and a guitar line which is vaguely reminiscent of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ but all similarities then end as we get the full symphonic treatment and Anna gives it her all. Closing number ‘Aerials‘ is a cover of the System Of A Down classic which works surprisingly well having been given the symphonic make over.

The group have set out to be more than just a band with the development of their masked super-human personas supported by a comic book series, but at the end of the day this is a music review. The focus of the album is an examination of human existence and relationships, and the themes tackled make, for the most part, a powerful album which comes recommended for fans of metal of the more melodic persuasion.