Montreal regressive metal act Anna Pest returns with their fourth LP, Dark Arms Reach Skyward With Bone White Fingers II: Be (Not) Afraid. This autobiographical-style album tackles lead, April Hutchins’ personal endeavours throughout the last five years. With song titles and some scattered lyrical lines and visuals still painting inspirations from Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-96 by Director Hideaki Anno) and End of Evangelion (1997, directed by the same), this musical narrative of April’s journey carefully blends rivaling technicalities with brutal progression and raw, yet simple to capture emotion. An energetic and complex mix, it’s no surprise Anna Pest has one of the greatest releases to hit 2026 thus far.

If you’ve been a part of the journey thus far (and I hope you’ve at least kept notes), then you’d remember Dark Arms Reach Skyward with Bone White Fingers (part 1) was released January 1st, 2021 – a 5 year gap between the saga. However, Anna Pest has been far from silent, releasing collaborative EP’s and more throughout that time like A Moor Beneath the Cold Dead Sun with Ashbreather‘s Colin McAndrew, a single titled ‘Snow‘ with Sterling Bidler, and a split EP with Ireland’s Argento; Catgirl in the House of Evil (…and Other Stories)). As well, they’ve worked on a track to raise awareness and rally support in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza – God Willing. And their very own You and Me at the End of the Fucking World to circle back. Not to mention they’ve since moved on from a solo project to a full-fledged band, so who KNOWS what the future holds!

But, in the now, this 14-track event takes hold, and what an epic adventure it is! As we dive inward, we understand that tracks 1-6 is Act I: The initial feel for the album as told by April as involving the events that have formed over the last 5 years are reflected upon. A point-of-view experience into what is April’s world.

“Second Impact” is filled with atmospheric pressure and heaviness; a bludgeoning introduction of brutality and complexities. It hits from all angles, utilizing rigid background melody to emphasize the intensity of growling vocal strides. It’s moody and vicious, coming across fast, despite it’s 5 and a half minute length, and yielding no mercy in its wake.

“Unfamiliar Ceilings” features the vocals of Chloé Bourdeau, and rides the same intensity as the predecessor track. The blend of cleans and harshes on this track are stunning, blending perfectly to balance that feeling of being trapped and surrounded by unknowns. It’s dark and deeply melodic, offering a change in pace yet still synchronizing with the album’s whole and definitely a top runner in my overall preference.

“Position Target” is a quick-hitter, but not to be ignored. It’s a very complex track that weaves lyrical inspiration alongside disastrous riffs and feverish drums to create a melody I had to listen to several times to really take it all in. It’s mind-melting in execution, and one with a heaviness that’s impossible to ignore.

“Pull the Switch” features Typeface‘s Riley Karam on vocals to once again add some duality that rides in on familiar foundations yet soars above in execution. The abysmal lows mixed with eccentric highs in vocal display are jaw-dropping, giving this track’s beating heart an electrical shock. Another quick track, but one that leaves deep impact with lyrics like “teething on the rind. Incisors slowly squelching. I’ll sink my molars deep. As the collarbone caves in. And taste of the marrow’s tang” adding more than the necessary set of imagery to take every last bit of colour from your face.

As we enter Act II we journey through tracks 8-12 after a little “Introjection“. This round acts as a series of open letters to five of the most important figures of April’s last five years: lovers, kin, friends and selves past and present. This chapter holds sadness, but more importantly and abundance of love.

“The Spider” carries out this album’s vibes, but unleashes an extra level of hell in its birth. This track gets into the nitty gritty, tackling vicious unbridled riffs to match simple, yet impactful lyrical lines like “How could I have thought, that I could sustain this?” leaving a lingering memory beneath every blink. If I had to pick a track for heaviness, it would be this one that had me absolutely on my knees begging for another minute or two.

“Do You Want to Become One With Me?” features Noah Thiffault (also featured on “Inrojection”) and enters almost thrashy and punky, taking notes of speed and harmony into its blend of feral weight and wild riff-work. The electronic-like interlude offers that space-searching dream-state, truly tackling temptation and desire alongside an unknown restlessness as it blends with the album’s root-wrapped melodies.

As we continue on our path, we arrive at “Sacred Angel, Bleeding Angel” featuring Mad Grandemange of VVOMB that once more encapsulates the overall heavy emotion of this album’s creation. At 6.41 in length, this track goes the distance both lyrically and melodically. In a manner of paraphrasing, lyrics from “All I Know,” “Angels Blood,” and “Hip Bones” by Oliver Francis, inspire this track on a level of both great comfort to Anna, as well as great annoyance to the individual to whom this song addresses.

“The blood ritual could not be undone, so we cut our losses. Serenades and razor blades, convalescence, trite clichés. Chemistry like lightning, from trembling fingertips, and nothing to offer but air.” – a verse that’s not only eye-opening but downright poetic.

The emotional weight of this track is almost more palpable here, not simply for the level harmony at its back but for how each verse is a mixture of sung, low murmurs and howls, against high-pitched, untamed screams. Anna is never one to shy away from lyrical depth, but to me, this track hits differently.

We enter our final act after a breath of fresh “Air“. Act III is an ode to the future, the promise of you and me and all the hope this world still has to offer. It is revealed in a final track “A Benediction” featuring Ashbreather‘s Mackay Agellon (saxophone), that culminates in a gentle introduction, soft and sorrowful, flowing into heavier melodics still etched by that same sorrowful reflection. It’s unrivaled in its execution, throwing in the dynamics of this entire album’s creation to make one, single masterpiece. Utilizing masterful drumbeats and unwavering guitars, this album’s finale is one offering velvety imagery, and epic instrumentals.

Once more, the poetry of Anna’s works strides through “I am uncertain if there is a God, but if there is, I am quite certain, that none of our paradigms for understanding Him are close to sufficient, and they are all of them befouled, with vanity and ulterior impetus.” Uncertainty is a word used and felt throughout this track, and this album, nodding not only to the acknowledgement of misunderstanding and misinterpretation but to the uncontrollable and unknown. That we are not bound by what is at our backs, it is, as some say ‘another drop in the bucket’, or another ‘character-building exercise’. However you may view these trials and tribulations, know that they are your experiences and your opportunities for growth and choice. With consequence comes understanding. With understanding comes growth. And with growth we find the chance to flourish another day.

ANNA PEST is:
• April Hutchins: Lead vocals, composition, lyrics, programming, guitars
• Colin MacAndrew: Drum arrangements, composition (track 8), additional vocals (tracks 3, 5, 8, 12)
• John Angel: Guitars, guitar solos, vocal harmony arrangements, additional vocals (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 12, 14)

Recorded & produced by April Hutchins at Muffin Studios, located on the unceded lands of the Kanyen’kehà:ka & Anishinaabeg peoples, commonly known as Montréal, Canada.

You can stream the album in its entirety via Bandcamp and don’t forget to check out the band’s other album’s as well as stay up-to-date with concerts, news and more via Facebook and Instagram.