UNEXPECT — Fables of the Sleepless Empire (review)

UNEXPECT — Fables of the Sleepless Empire album cover Album · 2011 · Avant-garde Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Fables of the Sleepless Empire" is the third full-length studio album by Canadian avantgarde/progressive metal act Unexpect. The album was independently released in May 2011. It´s the successor to "In a Flesh Aquarium" from 2006, which was the band´s breakthrough album.

"In a Flesh Aquarium" was a highly complex, technically well played, and experimental avantgarde metal release and it has received a lot of praise over the years, and not surprisingly Unexpect have chosen a relatively similar sound and approach on "Fables of the Sleepless Empire", although "Fables of the Sleepless Empire" sound a little less chaotic and polished compared to its direct predecessor. The vocals vary between female semi-operatic cleans, male cleans, and a varity of male extreme metal vocal styles (growling, snarling, screaming...etc.). In addition to the vocals, drums, guitars, bass, violin, piano, and samples are the instruments used to create the sound. The instrumental part of the music features elements of death metal, black metal, and symphonic metal, and often features classical music influenced sections or elements. All packed into abstract and complex avantgarde metal structures and dissonance. The tracks are ever changing and they take a while to get into and remember.

"Fables of the Sleepless Empire" features a clear, powerful, and detailed sound production, which perfectly suits the material and which help bring all elements of the band´s music to the listener. Upon conclusion "Fables of the Sleepless Empire" may suffer a bit from not being as surprising to the listener as "In a Flesh Aquarium" was, when it was released, but it´s overall another high quality release from Unexpect, and if you enjoyed the sound of "In a Flesh Aquarium", this one is a safe bet. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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