FRAKTAL.TWO

A much softer EP!

Since I discovered Akt and their debut album, I have been following their musical career because I was stunned by their quality and originality. "Déntrokirtós" has been one of my favorite Italian albums released in the last five years; while their first EP, entitled "FrAKTal.one" caught my attention due to the great King Crimson covers they did. Now in this 2011 they released "Blemmebeya", which once again has left me positive impressions; while a second EP with the name of "fractal.two" saw the light but with a different facet, now with soft, delicate and instrumental five-minute pieces.

This EP is really different from their previous efforts. This time the band changed their direction, though their quality is still wonderful, with well-crafted compositions, good melodies and delicious sounds. And I praise them because changing is always a risk, and they dared it, no matter the result. "frATKtal.two" consists of three songs, which make a total time of 16 minutes length.

"I Giorni delle mare (giorno I)" starts delicately with a piano, then acoustic guitar and keyboards appear (the latter making a flute sound), the mood is pretty warm and soft. After a minute and a half there is a one-second stop and the song structure is being rebuilt, the elements are the same but the sounds are a bit different. And after three and a half minutes it returns to its original form, as in the beginning of the track, but here drums are added.

"Quando piove sulle onde" has a wonderful acoustic contrabass sound, some soft percussions, a charming piano and great acoustic guitar. One may think that this progressive rock band has a strong link with jazz. After two minutes the song changes a little bit, creating a darker passage for some seconds, however, as in the first track, here the song also returns to its original form, and finishes like that.

"I Giorni delle mare (giorno III)" finishes this EP. The style is the same as the previous songs: a warm and delicate sound, with piano almost all the time, acoustic guitar, bass and soft percussion. There are moments where the song becomes more emotional, but it never changes drastically. The three songs are good, with their particular style, however, I did not feel attracted by Akt due to its softness, no, it was due to its originality and complexity, so to my ears this EP does not reach the same level as the other Akt works, which is why my final grade will be two stars. You can download it for free through their website, though.

Enjoy it!

After the incredibly good Blemmebeya, the Italian band AKT releases this short EP, just about 15 minutes in total that's quite different form what they have done up to now. This ED is more jazzy, with some Newage influences, and even with that touch of eclectism coming from their declared love for King Crimson sounds more like the jazzy Windham Hill artists of the 80s. I think to Michael Manring for the very good bass, but also others like Scott Cossu or Alex DeGrassi. The remind to Windham Hill is also a consequence of the fact that the first two tracks are completely acoustic and chill-out.

The three songs in the EP are a sort of little concept, inspired to the sea and the tides, at least this is what the track titles say.

Also this album is downloadable for free from the AKT website so checking it out requires just a few of your time. Personally I like it very much, but I've been a Wyndham Hill follower in the 80s so I can't not like it.

So what to say? AKT confirm to be very Eclectic and I think this EP deserves some attention.

3 solid stars.