Label: Jyden Music
Review by Tony Cannella
From Sweden, Akribi is a progressive metal band who fuses Dream Theater style song arrangements with heavy riffs and clean vocals courtesy of Jessica Åhman. The band was formed in 2003 and in 2011 released their debut album – this one here – “Black Morning Sun”.
“Black Morning Sun” is over an hour long and several of the songs fall in the very prog-ish 6-9 range. Akribi are not afraid to go off the beaten path either as the songs occasionally veer off into tangents, jams and signature time changes. It all manages to keep the listener on their toes and wonder what’s coming next. In addition to the longer songs, the band also gives us some shorter more immediate numbers. One of the strengths of “Black Morning Sun” is Akribi’s ability to combine more accessible songs with more progressive, epic type numbers; In that way, I would compare them to early Dream Theater (“Images and Words” era). Songs like the opener “Puppies of War”, the 9-minute “Where the Water Meets the Sky” and the ballad “Angel Kiss” shows the diversity of this band. Akribi also displays a jazz fusion as well as a 70s prog rock influence.
Sometimes there is a pretentiousness and pomposity that comes along with prog rock and metal. Some would view it as strength others a weakness depending on where your views of the genre lie. At the end of the day, you better have the songs to hold the attention of the listener. Akribi DO have the songs as well as an enormous amount of talent. I could go on and on but ultimately it’s up to the listener, but in my opinion “Black Morning Sun” is an album that is worth the time.
Rating – 87/100
Tracklist
- Puppies of War
- Where the Water Meets the Sky
- Surface
- Angel Kiss
- Blue Clay
- Carry the Rain
- Wither and Die
- Plains of Nevermore
- Sum Of It All
- Black Morning Sun
Line Up
- Jessica Åhman – Vocals
- André Berntsson – Guitar
- David Lidell – Guitar
- Andreas Tiberto – Keyboards
- Alexander Bringsoniou – Bass, Chapman Stick
- Tony McWilliams – Drums