There’s a particular kind of modern metal band that doesn’t just flirt with pop culture but grabs it by the collar, drags it into the pit, and makes it scream along. Ankor are firmly in that camp, and with “NAGATO • Purple Eyes” they’ve sharpened their blade again.
The multicultural quintet, vocalist Jessie Williams from Bristol, drummer Eleni Nota from Athens, guitarists David Romeu and Fito Martinez, and bassist Julio López from Catalonia, are based in Spain but spiritually everywhere at once. Alternative metal is the tag, but that barely covers it. This is contemporary European metal with its eyes wide open, pulling from anime, metalcore, pop aesthetics, and lived emotional damage.
“NAGATO • Purple Eyes” opens like a confession whispered in the dark. Eerie, restrained, almost beautiful. Then it snaps. Guitars crash in, rhythms tighten their grip, and suddenly you’re in full anthem territory, the kind designed to detonate live. It’s heavy without being blunt, melodic without going soft. Purposeful.
The track draws directly from Naruto, marking the band’s second release inspired by one of its antagonists. Where MADARA dealt in godlike arrogance and control, Nagato is all scar tissue and philosophy. The band quote the character directly, “Those who do not understand true pain can never understand true peace”, and they mean it. This is a song about suffering processed, not glorified. Pain turned into motion, not paralysis.
That emotional clarity has become Ankor’s calling card since their 2022 breakthrough “Prisoner“, a track that didn’t just rack up over three million streams but reset the band’s entire trajectory. Since then, singles like “Oblivion“, “Darkbeat“, “Stereo“, and “Venom “have formed a tightly bound aesthetic world. Self-directed visuals, narrative continuity, and a sound that fuses Asian pop culture, modern metalcore, and flashes of Spanish identity without ever feeling gimmicky.
The irony is that this overnight modern success comes from a band that started back in 2003 in Els Pallaresos, a small village near Barcelona. Two decades of graft, touring mainland Europe and Asia, and earning a reputation as a live powerhouse have led them here.
That momentum rolls straight into the road this spring as Ankor join Bloodywood on tour from April 10 to May 16, followed by a stacked summer of major festival appearances that firmly place them among Europe’s heavy hitters.
Festival Dates:
04/04–05/04 Dead Pop Festival, Kawasaki, Japan
05/06–07/06 Rock am Ring / Rock im Park, Nürburg, Germany
11/06–14/06 Nova Rock, Nickelsdorf, Austria
12/06 Download Festival, Derby, United Kingdom
18/06–21/06 Graspop Metal Meeting, Dessel, Belgium
10/06–14/06 Rock For People, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
