FABLES OF THE SLEEPLESS EMPIRE

I guess you can put Unexpect in that catagory of artists who take their sweet-ass time releasing albums. In A Flesh Aquarium blew me away and it completely fit my defintion of 'prog metal.' Fables Of The Sleepless Empire sounds like a continuation of that album, not really adding anything new. In the process the band has it's own sound but the music does not come off as exciting or innovative this time. It sounds like they tried to go for a fuller production which I actually think hurts a few songs here. The sound of the drums in particular sometimes bugs me, while they were no problem on the last album.

The female vocals generally dominate, with the male vocals almost serving a 'back-up' purpose. Those female vocals are also multi-tracked compared with Aquarium. The influences I could hear before from System Of A Down, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Mr. Bungle are still here but not as noticeable. The music is still a mix of metal, classical, electronic and other genres. The traditional metal instrumentation (including guitars and basses with lots of strings) is again joined by violin, piano and synths.

"Words" has both complex and more accessible moments. "Orange Vigilantes" almost has a Zeuhl vibe to it at times. A 'Latin' influence here and there...especially the piano. Features a nice but too short bass solo. Love the groove they get into at the end. Some backwards sounds and whispered male vocals begin "Mechanical Phoenix." Great guitar, bass and drum work in the middle. That bass has a lot of strings. "The Quantum Symphony" features some cool electronically altered vocals and great bass playing.

"Unfed Pendulum" is a highlight and one of the more interesting songs. Most of the songs feature the music jumping from one section to another, but here those jumps just gel. Great playing and a great composition all around. "In The Mind Of The Last Whale" is a great instrumental. Love the overdubbed martial drumming mixed with the oddball sound effects and wordless vocals. "When The Joyful Dead Are Dancing" is probably the most traditional metal sounding song on the album, but even it has non-metal moments.

Overall I think this is a notch below In A Flesh Aquarium but is still going to end up being one of the better releases of 2011. Like the previous album you need to listen to this several times before you can figure out what's going on. Great modern experimental metal that would appeal to the more adventurous prog fan. 4 stars.