ACTAEON

An enticing glimpse

To date, Finnish band ABERRANT VASCULAR have recorded just two demo EPs. Released in 2004, "Actaeon" is the first of these and consists of two tracks. The band centres around the trained operatic vocals of Lumi and the keyboards of ex Kalman Varjot member Mr. Rych.

The band's style is described in their biography as "Operatic Avantgarde Metal", perhaps conjuring images of bands such as RHAPSODY and NIGHTWISH. Such comparisons are certainly valid, especially as far as Rhapsody are concerned. The first track, " De te Fabula Narratur" has alternating growling and operatic male vocals on top of swirling orchestral synths. The vocals are slightly too far back in the mix, but the track is certainly striking, with numerous changes of pace and melody. At times the sound becomes chaotic, but is quickly drawn back in.

"Ekpyrosis" is a slightly slower but still metallic piece with tinkling piano, and a fine vocal performance by Lumi. Here, guitarist Sade (no not the "Smooth Operator"!) is afforded more space, with a decent solo. The track plays out with a slower symphonic keyboards and guitar section before the frantic conclusion.

" Actaeon" offers an enticing glimpse of a band who clearly have much potential, it is to be hoped that they get around to recording a full album soon.

This EP will be of interest to those who appreciate bands such as OPETH, THERION, and RHAPSODY. It is currently available for free download at the bands official site, linked to from their Progarchives page.

Aberrant Vascular are one of those strange metal bands that you occasionally find, in this case a band that combines the operatic vocals of Vladimir Lumi with keyboard led metal. Actaeon is the debut EP of this band and offers an interesting glimpse at the possibilities of this band.

This EP starts off with a few very unusual sound effects before diving straight into the heavy metal side of the band. Throughout both songs here, both of about 5 minutes in length, you get a lot of changes in the flow of the music, from fast and crushing metal to slower keyboard dominated parts. Over it all is the Operatic vocals of Lumi, interspersed with a few lines performed with a Death-metal style growl. The band definitely proves to be very interesting but both songs seem to sound very much the same with little variation in style and feel between them. I also find that the death-metal growls don't particularly work too well here, and whatever it is Lumi is trying to say is unrecognizable. The great strength of this band is its keyboard player, Sarator Rych, who shows a great ability to lead this heavy and eclectic sounding music on his instrument, and providing the only solos here. The rest of the band sound very competent at this without sounding particularly special.

I feel the band could benefit by extending the songs slightly so that they can explore their ideas better but overall this is an interesting EP that leaves you wondering what the band could do over a full album. Rather short at 10 minutes but decent enough, I'll give this 2.5 stars as something people should at least try if you have no problem with operatic vocals or death-metal growls, rounded down to 2 because it is very short and clearly has some space for improvement.

Judging from the colours and the aggressive letter font on Aberrant Vascular's first EP cover, one could easily assume that this is definitely a black metal album... If - to these first impressions - you add the fact that the band comes from Finland (a definitive birthplace of black metal...) then there is no doubt that your assumptions are not too far off the truth. Right?

Right. Too my ears this interesting first EP sounds like a 'modernised' and 'innovated' approach to technical black metal. The guitars and the overall atmosphere might not relate directly to what someone would perceive as black metal, but the totally avant-garde approach, the typical blast-beat breaks, short chaotic intervals and the (indeed competent) operatic vocals bring into mind bands like Arcturus, Covenant, Therion, Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. I could not easily categorise AV into prog metal, as there are no distinct elements in relation to classic 'prog' - however innovation is present. Heavy guitars interchange with pianos and violins and operatic vocals co-exist with brutal ones.

Both tracks on this EP are quite interesting - possibly this will apply to fans of more extreme metal music. I found the production to be quite neat, although the keyboards and pianos seem to be a bit 'above' the rest. The track that presents the most challenges is Ekpyrosis (from the Greek word that means: the destruction of an item from fire) with many changes in rhythm and atmosphere. However, the opening track (more Therion-oriented) has also its moments - the most interesting being a section with beautiful operatic vocals accompanied only by keyboards. Certainly, and judging from the fact that this is their first EP, AV show a potential for more complete albums in the future.

Worth giving it a try - especially for fans of Arcturus and related bands.

Progressive Black Metal? Possibly...

'Actaeon' - Aberrant Vascular (4/10)

A somewhat disappointing first impression from this Finnish dark metallers, Aberrant Vascular's small discography has been met with mixed acclaim. When listening, I can readily tell why; the band plays a unique style of symphonic metal that is very experimental. Although there are typical elements of symphonic metal here such as operatic vocals and symphonic keyboards at work, the way in which the multiple elements is put together is quite different from what I might expect from a typical band in the genre. It's less-than-generic approach aside, Aberrant Vascular's first demo 'Actaeon' is a somewhat cheap impression of the band, managing to get the avant-garde and gothic horror vibe across, but with a lack of melody, variety, and a generally cheap sounding recording across the board.

The music of Aberrant Vascular is fairly dark, obviously taking a hint from goth metal bands. Unfortunately, the dark and theatrical feel that the music attempts to get across is severely curtailed by the cheap nature of the execution, in particular; the symphonic keys. While obviously meant to emulate a real orchestra, the synths used (while not played poorly by any measure) have a tone to them that makes 'Actaeon' sound too often like the soundtrack to a 'haunted house' level of some classic video game. The instruments are rarely very technical, instead leaving the spotlight to operatic tenor Vladimir Lumi, who has a great and powerful voice.

Saving a few second pause in the music, there is really no telling apart the two songs. There is a lack of any memorable melody and the songs feel as if they lack cohesion as individual compositions. A disappointing introduction to this band, although their unique sound does lend itself to the possibility the band could make something much stronger out of it, with a little polish.