Review by Sheri Bicheno
It's been 5 years since Cambridgeshire unveiled Tech Groove Metal pioneers Akkadian to the UK underground metal scene. I've spoken about these guys a number of times since I came across their second ever show at the B2 in Norwich in 2019 - they completely blew my mind.
As the years, including the Pandemic, have unfolded, I've watched these lads go from strength to strength, carefully implimenting their delivery and working hard to craft their sound so that not only are they quite unique in a lot of ways, Akkadian also deliver an immersive experience to their audience. With teachings and talks about the mysteries of space, time and ancient history, the overall concept of the last few years of Akkadian have gone hand in hand with some beautifully meldoic and perfectly executed atmospherics in their sound to match their message.
Now, with the upcoming release of new EP The Devil Has Evolved on 27th October 2023, we're given some new and sharper edges to Akkadian. Starting with first track Second Sight, which we caught a live glimpse of at this years Tech Fest, we're thrown into a groove laden intro of beating chords displayed from Harry Newberry and Max Sylvestre that line up with Aaron Wright's arrival of blistering drum weilding. Melting together to create a melodic and heavy kick off to the song that bend and shape into intricate tech-infused riffs, we're already gonna be in for a face blasting. Blast beats from Aaron cement the pace before Danny Thurston delivers some purely visceral vocals straight off the bat. His ability to use layered techniques through melodic singing emphazises his barking death growls that display flashes of reflecting off eachother to unveil some powerful moods entwining amongst the atmospheric and dark riffs and beats. There are some distinctive moments that remind me of Gojira in places right down to the vocal delivery in the more aggressive parts of the track to the beautifully mood encapsulating Djent/Groove riffs that tempo twist with some of the most utterly stunning drumming in the underground music scene today.
Newest track The Devil Has Evolved hooks you straight in with some sharp, mesmerising bass notes carved out by Chris Kontos. The guitars come in heavy over this with chugging melodies and scratching riffs. I've told Max this before, but being the newest member of
Akkadian, I feel like his style of guitaring brings in some glimmers of Deftones auras to the band, which for me, you can see here amongst the tech and groove riffs that Harry signatures - a balance of polyrhythmic ethereal harmonies and blistering riffs that shape the direction of the track alongside the brutal pedal work of the kit.
Vocally, there's some diversity in Danny's range in this track too. He adopts softened and mysterious notes underneath his roaring gutturals that talk to us of succumbing to the power of dark entities.
And having said that, I was not ready for what came on the final track... a stark contrast that welcomes a stunning adaptation of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' - which comes from one of my favourite albums of all time. Not straying too far from their style, Akkadian's cover of Teardrop opens in that familiar, softly written intro that invokes a dream like melody, slowly building into chugging riffs, choral synths and subtle beats to start to transform the song into a more emphasizing style. The vocals start soft and in contrast to the other offerings of the EP, display that Akkadian can play around with diversity and make something that could have been deemed a tricky appraoch to such a track for an extreme metal band, into a flawless and beautiful cover that along the line, DOES impliment Akkadian's heaviest sides. As the track unfolds and Akkadian creates it into their own style, they have proved they can do so without taking away the essence of Teardrop - and I sincerely hope that they play this live.
Three tracks of stunning musicianship, The Devil Has Evolved serves as a strong, immersive offering and the evolvement of Akkadian over the last few years. We look forward to a full length album!
Watch 'The Devil Has Evolved' here
Akkadian are:
Danny Thurston - Vocals
Chris Kontos - Bass
Harry Newberry - Guitar
Max Sylvestre - Guitar
Aaron Wright - Drums
Cool to see new, young bands carrying the mantle for Metal! 🤟