Ankla

If you attend Ozzfest at the Sound Advice Ampitheathre in West Palm Beach on Thursday, check the second stage for the L.A.-based Ankla. And if the band's crushing, hypnotic grooves move you, good news: The group takes the stage Friday at Studio A for a full headlining set.

The band's name stems from an intentional misspelling of ancla ("anchor" in Spanish), and an identifiable Latin influence similarly pervades the quintet's work. (Well, the members' last names are Santana, Ortiz, Castenada, Magaña, and Santiago.) Just check a track like "Deceit," from their 2006 debut full-length, Steep Trails, released on the Pompano Beach-based Bieler Bros. label. There's a moment of sweet flamenco-flavor acoustic guitar and then a stomach-dropping explosion of a down-tuned guitar attack and thrash-speed drumming. The acoustic pushes back into the mix, only to be overtaken by classic metal riffage. It's postmodern, tight as a leather glove, and, of course, heavy as hell.