THE WAY THINGS END

French band AKIN was formed back in 1998. They issued a demo the following year which was favorably received by the metal press, with a full-length album following in 2001 and an EP two years later. After a spell of inactivity the band got together again in 2009, and in 2011 they were signed by the US label Progrock Records, which subsequently released their second CD "The Way Things End".

Akin has constructed a beautiful piece of eclectic art rock with "The Way Things End", blending art rock and progressive metal in a successful and easy-to-like manner, yet with enough twists and turns to satisfy many who crave music that is of a fairly challenging variety. The tight interaction with a string quartet and its role in the proceedings suggest to me that fans of US act District 97 may be something of a key audience also for Akin, and I would suggest those who enjoy one of those to also take the time and listen to the other, which, presumably, should give both these bands some new fans.

This is an extremely well produced album. The instruments are all crisp and clear, and the sounds all seem to be well thought out and work perfectly together. But compositionally the pieces leave me a little bit cold. I admit that I enjoy lead singer Adeline Gurtner's voice, and some of the prog adornments that bejewel the songs. Unfortunately, in most cases the prog moments fell just like that, as if they were tagged on to the songs as an afterthought.

That isn't to say that the album is not without value. The blend of metal and various styles can be compelling at times, and the solos, especially the guitar solos can make this album worth the price of admission. I find the album just okay, but those with more of an ear for metal might enjoy it more.

'The Way Things End' - Akin (7/10)

Akin is a band that has been around for over a decade, so it comes as something of a surprise that I have not heard anything from this talented ensemble before. Now only recently scoring a deal with ProgRock records, this French cello rock group will finally be reaching a much greater audience than the one they had before. This is the second full length record that the band has come out with, and the first thing they have churned out in a few years, but if 'The Way Things End' is any indicator of the band's future, they likely have much greater things in the future for them than in their past. Akin is a band that manages to fuse the sound of the cello into the rock/metal formula, and unlike some that attempt this, they execute it brilliantly. However, despite an incredibly promising sound to them, Akin is bogged down by a few less successful aspects to their sound that potentially get in the way of an otherwise excellent musical experience.

Despite being labelled as a prog rock band (and rightfully so), much of Akin's music narrows down to fairly concise songwriting structures. It is in fact largely in the way these songs are presented that gives the band their progressive edge. Although Akin's songwriting aims to be highly melodic, there are dense layers of crunchy guitar riffs and lush string arrangements that add so much to the sound. Although the core songwriting may not tend to be so challenging, the wealth of little details that Akin leaves in the performance and mix is worth returning back to many times, as 'The Way Things End' is certainly not a record that is so easily digested in a couple of listens.

When it comes to the actual songwriting itself however, things are a little more hit-and-miss. While on such pieces as 'The 92nd Flight', Akin manages to build up their instrumental sound with mastery, but they get lost on fairly lackluster melodies, with particular regards to the vocal lines. Although Adeline Gurtner is evidently a strong vocalist, her performance here does seem to distract more from the excellent instrumentation moreso than compliments it. Her voice is best compared to that of Anneke van Giersbergen (ironically one of my favourite female singers) and has a sweet tone to it, but too often, Gurtner's vocal lines seem to meander over the complex music, instead of becoming part of it, so to speak. It is no discredit to Gurtner's abilities as a singer necessarily, but unless 'The Way Things End' could have had better vocal melodies, it would have been preferable to leave the record as an instrumental venture, and focused more on the excellent musical arrangements.

The production here is somewhat uninspired. Although the instruments are all more or less clear in the speakers, it feels like a very bare-bones effort. Luckily for Akin however, their abilities as instrumentalists are excellent, and in a much more distinctive way than the typical prog metal standard of shredding and speed. 'The Way Things End' feels incredibly promising in some respects, and something of a let-down in others. All the same, Akin will undoubtedly be a band to look out for in the coming years should they decide to release more material, even if it is something of a mixed bag.

Formed in 1998 in Lyon (France), Akin were heavily influenced by Anathema, The Porcupine Tree and Opeth. Their first demo was positively received and they consequently signed with Sacral Productions for 'Verse' I 2001 and 'Forecast' in 2003. Both of these were very well received in France and assisted in them getting the gig to open for bands such as Within Temptation, Dark Tranquility, Epica and others during 2002 and 2003. There then followed a long period of inactivity from the band and it was only in 2009 that they got back together to work on 'The Way Things End' which was released by Progrock Records in 2011.

I wonder why the band took such a long break, as if the earlier albums are anything like this then they literally have the world at their feet. Although bands like Legend have never gained the attention they deserved, over recent years symphonic metal/prog bands fronted by female singers with a great range have been coming very popular. In many ways Akin remind me especially of Within Temptation, and also Epica and Nightwish (the Anette Olzon version, not Tarja Turunen). This is powerful music with great interplay between all of the musicians, often coming from a metallic area but they also use a string quartet to bring an additional edge to proceedings and whatever the band is doing behind her singer Adeline Gurtner is more than up to the task. This is a great album that should find a lot of fans. It is also possible to go to Bandcamp and listen and purchase their earlier works Http://akin69.bandcamp.com. www.progrockrecords.com for more information.