AKPHAEZYA - ANTHOLOGY II: LINKS FROM THE DEAD TRINITY

Akphaezya (nice name) combines poppy jazz, (Gothic, death, progressive...) metal and other styles (also own experimentation, of course) into a nice hybrid. Resemblances: Unexpect, Angizia, Atrox, Mr. Bungle. The overall sound is nice and production is good. I like the changes in this music, but they're maybe too much divided into clear parts. Also, the "pop" metal, as i say, could have been replaced with more experimental art.

Preface (1.). Atmospheric nu jazz, a bit ska.

Chrysalis (2.) starts with a refreshing flowing piano like Angizia's. Then turns into symphonic death metal. There's many styles and changes. Nice song.

Beyond the Sky (3.). Moderate "thinking people's pop", classical in the middle and latter part of the song is very nice, dark psychedelic oriental freak folk, reminds me of Comus. This is maybe the best Akphaezya for me.

Khamsin (4.) cheerful avant-piano jazz and freaky metal here and there. Very nice!

Reflections (5.) is quite soulful but sounds a bit too pop for me, though there's many elements. Think softer The Mars Volta and softer Amy Winehouse combined metal. Actually this song reminds me of some j-rock.

Awake (6.) is a short track with nice little psychedelic patterns and atmospheric trip hop.

The Golden Vortex of Kaltaz (7.) starts with some kind of soft classical music and a bit tango (his is what I like in avant-garde), but nicely goes metal after 1:46. Unfortunately, the metal in here is once again quite boring, basic female-fronted metal - and also metalcore. Ok, it's still progressive metal, but as many of us knows, it's not always good. Some people might still think this is nice avant-garde metal. Maybe it is but I don't want to say that and I don't like it much.

The Secret of Time (8.). Slightly oriental ambientism - is this going to be symphonic metal or new age? Metal. After

Stolen Tears (9.) is a short peaceful semi-acoustic track. Nothing.

Trance: H.L.4 (10.) contains annoying a cappella sounds and African drumming.

The Bottle of Lie (11.) - This is something that works. More bossa nova in the jazz and also the metal is more extreme, attacking and there's crazy portamentos, semi-operatic vocals like in Atrox and Unexpect. But there's also freak waltz and relaxed reggae here, also some choral speaking at the very end.

I recommend you to listen to this album. I was disappointed and could had given two stars, but - also four stars would be possible.