| In listening to Akercocke's "Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone" metal
fans take a venture deep into a Dark sounding progressive/technical Death metal
sound that at times shows the intensity of Vital Remains and at other times shows
an alternative sound that can only be compared to Opeth. Although slightly demanding
and completely overwelming, this disc could be either a very droning listen, or
could be fascinating with it's technical guitar works and it's deep jazzy vocal stylings.
These aspects perfectly paint a dark and eery dreamscape that contrasts from beautiful
to unnerving in a matter of a few seconds.
Although some of the sounds heard on Akercocke's album do fit a soothing feeling, don't
be misled by that thought. This band also shows a raw Death Metal and even Black Metal
sound that proves to be just as satanic as any other Black Metal band. Now, to me the
more intense parts of this disc proved to be a little demanding which in turn resulted
in my favoring of the more alternative metal sound, or even the riffs that contained crazy
arpeggios and clever melodies (prime example "Seduced"). One thing that kind of bothered
me a little bit was the cheesy laughing/cackling done by vocalist Jason Mendonca in
"Shelter From the Sand". I felt it to be too much and my personal thoughts lead me to
believe that Akercocke had already done a great job of displaying their eery feel with
just the sound and tone of their music. But where that track had it's faults, "Words That
Go Unspoken (Part 1)" made up for it with it's guitar work and overall upbeat alternatively
impressive musicianship.
Now as the album wanders on I now find myself easily sidetracked from the point of the disc.
I felt as if the middle of the album lacked a certain something that took away from the
playability of the effort, so I basically zipped right through the following tracks until I
was reminded the disc was playing during the solos of "The Penance". Now as the album winds
to it's end, I can't help but feel a sigh of relief. The album was a fun listen for a few
songs, and the musicianship heard makes me glad I stumbled across the band, but without A
doubt "Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone" has proved to be one of the most
demanding releases I've listened through in a while. After listening to this CD, I can't
discredit the band for their musicianship, because talent is all but faint. But the low
playability factor really plays into the part quite a bit. For you technical metal or Opeth
fans you might want to look into taking this disc for spin. If you're not heavy into either
or even Black Metal, than you might be safe just avoiding this disc.
~ Drew
November 28 2006 |
