AKPHAEZYA - ANTHOLOGY II: LINKS FROM THE DEAD TRINITY

Akphaezya (nice name) combines poppy jazz, (Gothic, death, progressive...) metal and other styles (also own experimentation, of course) into a nice hybrid. Resemblances: Unexpect, Angizia, Atrox, Mr. Bungle. The overall sound is nice and production is good. I like the changes in this music, but they're maybe too much divided into clear parts. Also, the "pop" metal, as i say, could have been replaced with more experimental art.

Preface (1.). Atmospheric nu jazz, a bit ska.

Chrysalis (2.) starts with a refreshing flowing piano like Angizia's. Then turns into symphonic death metal. There's many styles and changes. Nice song.

Beyond the Sky (3.). Moderate "thinking people's pop", classical in the middle and latter part of the song is very nice, dark psychedelic oriental freak folk, reminds me of Comus. This is maybe the best Akphaezya for me.

Khamsin (4.) cheerful avant-piano jazz and freaky metal here and there. Very nice!

Reflections (5.) is quite soulful but sounds a bit too pop for me, though there's many elements. Think softer The Mars Volta and softer Amy Winehouse combined metal. Actually this song reminds me of some j-rock.

Awake (6.) is a short track with nice little psychedelic patterns and atmospheric trip hop.

The Golden Vortex of Kaltaz (7.) starts with some kind of soft classical music and a bit tango (his is what I like in avant-garde), but nicely goes metal after 1:46. Unfortunately, the metal in here is once again quite boring, basic female-fronted metal - and also metalcore. Ok, it's still progressive metal, but as many of us knows, it's not always good. Some people might still think this is nice avant-garde metal. Maybe it is but I don't want to say that and I don't like it much.

The Secret of Time (8.). Slightly oriental ambientism - is this going to be symphonic metal or new age? Metal. After

Stolen Tears (9.) is a short peaceful semi-acoustic track. Nothing.

Trance: H.L.4 (10.) contains annoying a cappella sounds and African drumming.

The Bottle of Lie (11.) - This is something that works. More bossa nova in the jazz and also the metal is more extreme, attacking and there's crazy portamentos, semi-operatic vocals like in Atrox and Unexpect. But there's also freak waltz and relaxed reggae here, also some choral speaking at the very end.

I recommend you to listen to this album. I was disappointed and could had given two stars, but - also four stars would be possible.

I first came across Akphaezya while looking for bands similar to another French avant-garde jazz metal group I'm fond of, Pin-Up Went Down. A quick listen to both reveals some massive similarities between the two; both are technical jazz-influenced metal groups with similar female singers. Anthology II is this band's first album.

The opening song, "Preface", is a pretty good introduction. The beginning reminds me of Tomahawk's "Flashback" a bit, especially the percussion. The song is dominated by airy synths and mystical vocals and whispering, provided by the singer. Not bad at all. 4/5

The first song was okay, but the majority of people who listen to this album are looking for metal music. "Chrysalis" fills in that spot. It mixes piano with heavy metal drumming and guitar. The singing is also very good here. 5/5

The next song, "Beyond the Sky", can only be described as an acoustic metal song. Again the vocals are prominent, and there's some more piano. The guitar parts are played on an acoustic guitar. If you have imagination, you can imagine this song played on standard metal instruments. Refreshing. 4/5

"Khamsin", the next song on the track, is traditional jazz metal. You can hear the jazz influences in the song, simply by listening to the way it carries itself around. This is, however, still a metal song, and a very good one at that. The vocals on this song are also very good, like all of the other tracks. 5/5

"Reflections" is another jazzy piece. It's very much along the lines of the same track, however, it has some more metallic elements to it. It's pretty good. 4/5

"Awake" is a short acoustic guitar interlude. Think the metal version of "Mood for a Day". I think it could have been left out or fleshed out a bit more. 3/5

"The Golden Vortex of Kaltaz" starts off with a twisted piano introduction. Whether the piano is prepared or has effects added, I can't tell. The song breaks into a pure metal piece next. The vocalist is doing her best work at this part. 5/5

"The Secret of Time" segues from the last song. It begins with a spacey intro, complete with sitar. Another metal middle portion of the track. You may think this gets boring, but the music is good, so you don't mind. Also, this track has some Arabic influences, so it's a bit more refreshing. The outro is also very well played. 4/5

"Stolen Tears" starts with some great guitar work. This, and the vocals, are the only instruments in this song. It's basically another interlude, but it's better than "Awake". 4/5

The next song is really strange. "Trance- H.L.4" is an incredibly weird piece. The vocalist does some wailing and chanting to some percussion backing. Not really in my taste range. 2/5

The last song on the album, "The Bottle of Lie", starts off with a Latin jazz feel. It's a very upbeat way to end the album, but that's not the whole song. Some very freaky metal follows, the vocals wail and at one point there's an accordion. The song is really meant to make you psychotic. It's actually one of the best songs on the album, however. It perfectly mixes carnival with metal with Latin and jazz. Towards the end, there's also a spoken part accompanied by violin. It leaves a cliffhanger. You want them to make a continuation. 5/5

If you're a fan of metal music, and especially jazz-metal, Akphaezya's first album is a must-have. It's a stellar debut. Hopefully, the band's future material will be on-par.

Avant-garde metal is usually an interesting listen, as you never quite know what to expect. It's home to bands that exceed the boundaries of other genres, often incorporating many elements of non-metal music beyond the usual classical music and jazz fusion technique of instrumentation. Now, interesting doesn't always mean good, and I often find avant-garde metal to be a mess of ideas. Because of this, it can either be fantastic when those ideas are all incorporated into a cohesive whole, or very painful to listen to when those ideas are scattered all around with nothing to put them together.

French avant-garde metal band Akphaezya unfortunately ends up sounding like the latter in the first song after a sort of ambient intro. "Chrysalis" sounds like separate jam sessions placed over each other in a smorgasbord of styles that lack the cohesion that could put all the pieces together. One second there well be a calm and serene folk melody, then without warning black metal blastbeats and growls come in like you just turned on a different album. This keeps repeating throughout the song with various styles. It's a real shame, as I love the jazzy lounge/swing metal moments when they come in, but nothing lasts long enough to get the listener really invested.

The album isn't entirely like this however. Thankfully, there are several songs that stick to one style each for the most part. I think this is what generally works better. Mixing a slew of ideas is great, but it can be much more rewarding when each song uses one or two of those styles rather than trying to stick as much as you can into one song. "The Golden Vortex of Kaltaz" is the highlight of the album, and it takes on a somewhat thrash-y symphonic metal sound. The guitars have a gritty crunch, while the vocals range from melodic clean vocals to growls a couple times within the song. "The Secret of Time" is another one of the best tracks, this time with a middle-eastern vibe.

Besides the lack of cohesion on several tracks, what often kills the album for me are the vocals. The instrumentation is very often great when it all fits together, but Nehl Aëlin's thick accent and eclectic use of vocal techniques end up ruining some songs that would otherwise be great. Take "Reflections" for example. There's some killer guitar licks, but I find it annoying and distracting when the vocals are switching from bouncy J-pop, to maniacal squealing a la The Mars Volta, to simply average melodic vocals. While vocalists who have this eclectic range of tones and styles to their voice are often lauded, I often find the multiple singing styles works better overall when multiple singers are applied, as usually the singers can play off of one another, making them all blend well. However, I will give credit where credit is due, as her vocals on the two songs I mentioned in the previous paragraph are pretty great.

Akphaezya's Anthology II: Links from the Dead Trinity is certainly an acquired taste. While it will probably be an excellent album for the staunch followers of the genre, this may be a bit of a tough listen at times for those who like a bit more cohesion in their music. It's nowhere near the worst of the genre, but nowhere near the best either. If they focused in on one or two styles for each song and didn't include crazy vocals, I think this could be a great record.

Written for the MMA (MetalMusicArchives) Reviewer's Challenge.

See review here: http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/review/anthology-ii-links-from-the-dead-trinity/340789