IN A FLESH AQUARIUM

I read many positive things about the second full length studio release of these Canadian musicians, which seems to be their breakthrough before purchasing it. At first listening I found most parts of In a Flesh Aquarium rather annoying, but the keyword to get Unexpect's music is patience, and you have to really focus on the music. After a few listening sessions a new world opened, new layers came to light, and after about a dozen listenings I can safely say that this is my favourite extreme metal album I have heard so far. Unexpect's music is first of all metal. Really heavy metal. But with a very quirky, avantgarde approach. They melt prcatically almost all kinds of metal, and there are electro/ambient passages here and there on the album. The violin and the piano often softens, and enrichens the music. Unexpect doesn't really sound like any other band, sometimes they remind me a bit of Death, a bit of Cynic, a bit of Arcturus, and sometimes even a bit of Magma(they even have some lyrical parts in a made up language), but the final rsultis quite unique. To be honest I don't think that the Sleepytime Gorilla Museum parallels are that strong. There are some similarities in the line up, and in the avantgarde attitude, but SGM(another excellent band) is an avant/experimental rock band with some metal elements, while Unexpect is an extreme metal band with an avantgarde approach. It would be a very long affair to give about each song a detailed description. They feature more twist and turns than the entirety of many so called progressive metal albums. All band members are outstanding at what they do, I enjoy the most the "overstringed" bass by Chaoth and the violin by Le Bateleur. Unfortunately, the latter mentioned muisician quit the band, but I hope that they have worthy successor in the person of Borboen. The vocals are very versatile, from the soft female voice of Leilindel to the brutal vocals by Syriakh and Artagoth, almost anything can be found here. I like these metal "pen names", only the name of Hupogrammos from Negura Bunget is a "superior" name to these ones.;) I have to make a special mention about the first part of The Shiver which is sang in my native language. To be honest, the Hungarian spelling in the CD booklet leaves much to be desired, but the pronounciation is surprisingly good. It was really special to hear it at the first time. It was really "unexpected" through listening before reading the booklet. Of course, an album like this one is not for "everyone". Bur you know, great music is not for "everyone"...;)

Share this UNEXPECT review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Norbert
• Report this review (#269669)
• Buy UNEXPECT music online with PA partners
• Show all UNEXPECT MP3/Stream
• Go to UNEXPECT page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to In a Flesh Aquarium page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for UNEXPECT related discussions