IN A FLESH AQUARIUM

First off, I don't want to start this review by saying this is one of the most challenging pieces of music I've ever heard or how nuts the music is, but it's hard not to. I can however say this is one of the best tech/extreme metal albums I've ever heard and one of the most multi-layered pieces of music out there.

The music is very avant-garde, yes. But this is first and foremost a tech/extreme metal album. Although there are multiple genres of metal, including black, death, progressive, symphonic, and even some power metal. But there are also so many other genres that get thrown in, including folk, classical music, jazz, circus music, gypsy music, crying babies, noise, and things that almost sound like they're coming from the mouth of Mike Patton himself. I'm probably forgetting about a dozen or so genres of music, but you get the point. This is a very eclectic album. UnExpect (apparently that's how the band spells their name) is also fronted by a female vocalist, who happens to have quite a powerful, operatic voice. She is backed by two male vocalists, who range from almost gibberish-type shouting to death growls. They certainly don't make this any more accessible. And in this hour-long journey, there is little breathing room to be found, except for "Silence 011010701", and the first part of the multi-track epic called "The Shiver". Most of the time the band is content with sonically pummeling the listener, as well as multiple genre and rapid tempo changes. No riff last for more than a few seconds, but each one seems to outdo the ones that came before it. This really is some pretty remarkable music. And yes, it actually is music here, not random chaos. It took me several listens just to get over that fact, then about as many to begin to realize what was going on here.

I put this review off for so long because I wasn't sure if I'd want to give IaFA 4 or 5 stars. But this is one of the most original/chaotic/f'd up albums I've ever heard that I can't not give this 5 stars. If you like tech/extreme metal or really bizarre avant-garde music or don't like music that has any trace of accessibility, then you owe it to yourself to check UnExpect's second album out. A masterpiece of avant-garde female-fronted metal.