{"id":711230,"date":"2026-06-03T01:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T01:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/711230\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T01:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T01:36:09","slug":"ana-motivated-by-death-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/711230\/","title":{"rendered":"Ana – Motivated by Death Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"So, what\u2019s happening here is Australian symphonic metalers Ana and their debut record, Motivated by Death are set on pioneering a new sub-sub-genre. \u201cCouture metal.\u201d For the blue-jeans-and-band-tees wearers among us, couture fashion is all about expressive, customized statements in clothing, often expensive and always personalized. This is an evident visual influence for Ana, and musically the band cites their style as \u201ca sophisticated, upscale evolution of the craft that prioritizes high-fashion theatricality alongside punishing sonic precision.\u201d Fewer corsets, more spandex. One thing\u2019s for sure, Ana have bought into themselves: they have a series of comics<\/a> in the works written in tandem with their music, as well as a documentary film titled Watch Me as I Rise. But what about Motivated by Death? Their album, for their music band? Does it live up to the hoo-ha, or is Ana\u2019s rising star a premature liftoff?<\/p>\n

Ana are banking on the power of Y2K nostalgia on Motivated by Death. Early-aughts goth, symphonic, and n\u00fc metals comprise the core of Ana\u2019s sound, with choruses sounding like Nightwish taking on Evanescence and Evanescence taking on Powerman 5000. Guitarist Josh Mak\u2019s riffs shift between metalcore chugs, n\u00fc\/alt-rock power chords, and gallops while drummer Andres Osorio and bassist Cody Lamb keep Motivated by Death consistently groovy and moving. There\u2019s a sm\u00f6rg\u00e5sbord of synth sounds at keyboardist Mark Shi\u2019s disposal, and when shredding alongside Mak Ana have a surprising knack for showy solos (\u201cShadow of Life,\u201d \u201cPapa\u201d). Vocalist Anna Hristenko is, predictably, the crux of Ana\u2019s sound, layering Motivated by Death with sultry, classically-inspired but pop-informed bars. She brings gravity to Ana along with unquestionable showmanship, and when Motivated by Death is kicking it recalls not only this millennium\u2019s early rock\/metal scene but a time when pop music was more audacious and bombastic.<\/p>\n

But Motivated by Death often feels too overly calculated for its own good. Ana make sure to hit all of the beats of a radio hit on Motivated by Death. There\u2019s the booming opener with \u201cHate Me\u201d followed by the cyber goth panache of \u201cShadow of Life,\u201d its one-two punch showing listeners that they got both the riffs and hooks they crave. There are two ballads, one power in \u201cYou Loved Me More than I Loved Myself\u201d and one Evanescence\u2019s \u201cMy Immortal\u201d in \u201cSick Love\u201d so radio has a choice in what they want play to death. Ana even outsourced a closer by covering System of a Down\u2019s \u201cAerials,\u201d safely assuring Motivated by Death ends well (in theory). What makes this mathematical approach especially jarring is that Motivated by Death is a very short album, barely hitting thirty-five minutes. Ana just fly through the motions, the listener\u2019s every emotion carefully road-mapped along the way. Motivated by Death feels like a proof-of-concept for Ana, not their debut.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Motivated by Death is also just messy. Ana\u2019s core symphonic sound is imbued with so many Y2K-era rock stylings that there\u2019s hardly enough time spent on one thing to figure out what Motivated by Death is. Its diversity works against memorability; \u201cEyes of a Child\u201d features a sitar riff in its bridge, and Hristenko breaks out her operatic chops on \u201cPapa,\u201d and yet I forget these things even happen every time. Hristenko is a powerful singer, but clumsy phrasings in the verses of \u201cSick Love\u201d and \u201cAerials\u201d leave them feeling awkward, while her declaration of \u201cListen up you motha fuckeeeeeers!\u201d in \u201cFollowing the Wind\u201d isn\u2019t aggressive or cheeky enough to land convincingly. Motivated by Death is not helped by Ana\u2019s insistence on loudness and its radio-made production that makes the drums sound like plastic cans and robs any of the dynamics songs like \u201cYou Loved Me More than I Loved Myself\u201d and \u201cAerials\u201d need. Motivated by Death sounds like Ana were throwing things at the wall and seeing what stuck. Not enough stuck, and what did doesn\u2019t work too well together.<\/p>\n

I fear that Motivated by Death isn\u2019t the statement Ana were hoping for. Ana are a talented, driven bunch, and there\u2019s no doubt there\u2019s a market for what they do. It\u2019s not all bad\u2014\u201dShadow of Life\u201d slaps and \u201cSick Love\u201d can be pretty moving at times\u2014but both playing it safe and half-baking your album is a bad combo. Despite its truncated runtime Motivated by Death proves a slog to get through. I could see a world where I stick up for Ana, one where they\u2019re more bold-faced and adventurous, and I\u2019m getting wedgied for liking \u201ccouture metal.\u201d Right now, that\u2019s not this one.
\ufeff<\/p>\n

Rating: Bad
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps MP3
Label: Eclipse Records<\/a>
Websites: anaband.com.au<\/a> | facebook.com\/ana.band.0fficial<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: May 29th, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So, what\u2019s happening here is Australian symphonic metalers Ana and their debut record, Motivated by Death are set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[99678,43409,55969,138102,49672,49,48,75,26393,237303,258090,341,85401,258091,258092,208,209,136362,59782],"class_list":["post-711230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-1-5","tag-43409","tag-alt-metal","tag-ana","tag-australian-metal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-evanescence","tag-may26","tag-motivated-by-death","tag-music","tag-nightwish","tag-powerman-5000","tag-psyclops","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-symphonic-metal","tag-system-of-a-down"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}