UNEXPECT - Fables of the Sleepless Empire

"Demon of the Opera: or, Surreal Rollercoaster: or, Mercy! My head is on the edge of overheating!"

This is an intense piece of avant-garde metal. I mean INTENSE. Unexpect's third full length record is an unrelenting beast, spawned by Ascendance Records. On its musical way it has devoured such genres as klezmer music, symphonic black metal, opera, electronic, jazz, classical chamber music and some other tasty styles that stood on its way. Oh my... It seems it's about to devour... YOU!

Such a dense and complicated record requires a crystal clean production. So, if you're looking for a fuzzy sounding and discordant avant-garde, you won't find it here. FotSE is a perfectly produced album with an impeccable sound. Every instrument (vocals, violin, guitars, 9-string bass... wait, what?!) has its space in the mix and thereby is easily distinguishable in the wave of sounds this crazy bunch bombards us with.

A book could be written about the music played by Unexpect. I must admit that on the first listen I was completely overwhelmed by its diversity and intensity. While the album may seem a bit inconsistent at first, its strange coherence becomes apparent with time. Unexpect are unbelievably talented songwriters and skilled musicians. Their mix of dark cabaret ambiance, modern electronic spices, chamber orchestrations, extreme metal impetuosity and progressive virtuosity, seems to be performed without effort. While sometimes I get an impression of thematic overload, the fact that it's a well-flowing album is undeniable. Most of all though, I think there's something that makes this intricate music surprisingly accessible. It's either beautiful vocal lines by the frontwoman Leilindel or Unexpect's great talent for thrilling passages. Well, both of them I guess.

Extraordinary. Intense, intriguing, technical and... brilliant. List of adjectives goes on and on. With this almost perfect creation, Unexpect has proven that virtuosity doesn't have to deprive the music of soul. That should be an important lesson for some leading prog metal bands. I can't help but admire these people, admire them for creating this exacting, surreal and emotion-provoking journey. I'm happy I've set out on it.

GRAYCEON - All We Destroy

Hello, this is cello

Chamber metal. Hah, perfect name for a style Grayceon presents on their third full-length record entitled ALL WE DESTROY and released by Profound Lore Records, a label renowned for hosting such bands as Agalloch and Altar of Plagues. It is dark, imaginative, organic, unusual and very, very genuine concept album. And there's cello. And the cellist is a woman. And she sings in the album! Mother of God!!!

"Organic" and "chamber" are the words that come to my mind while listening to ALL WE DESTROY. Thanks to masterfully performed, downtuned guitar passages, the sound is not flat, despite the absence of bass guitar (cool, right?). All instruments sound both natural and clean. The production is organic to the extent of giving me an impression of a live concert in a little music club! Really, really great work.

The music played by Grayceon is called chamber metal as it incorporates chamber orchestration provided by the cellist Jackie Perez Gratz and "pickless" yet heavy guitar playing by Max Doyle. Alternatively it's often tagged post metal for it's diversity of genres from outside the metal one - classical, post-rock and progressive rock music. Songs in ALL WE DESTROY are full of well flowing passages and despite their length, every track seems to have its own identity. They drag on a bit sometimes but hey, none of them is overdone! As for vocals by Mrs Gratz, there's still some space for improvement but it can be safely said, that her relatively low pitched voice and emotionally charged singing can send a shiver down your spine.

Grayceon is gradually mastering an incredibly demanding style they have created and become more and more self-confident with every album. While ALL WE DESTROY can be a bit tiresome experience, its freshness and beauty outweighs all of its drawbacks. If you're into chamber music, yearning for fresh approach to progressive metal or just want to experience something genuinely emotional, get this album!