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There are few bands that pick a name which does not describe their lyrical concept, but the way they sound. Sure enough, the Canadian avant-gardists of UneXpect may not have had this in mind, but incidentally this word could not be a better sonic description of their releases. After two successful past albums, "Utopia" and "In a Flesh Aquarium" and touring with the likes of Dream Theater and Opeth, they released another opus earlier this year, titled "Fables of the Sleepless Empires" and we had the chance to try it and tell you whether the crazy blend of styles and chaotic energies for which they are known are still alive and kicking.
Upon first listening of any of the songs made by UneXpect one might be overwhelmed by the gigantic sound and the constant, breathless changing of the patterns inside. And I'm not speaking about changes say, in a guitar rhythm or a voice melody but full scale musical madness. While a riff consists of a pattern of interestingly repeated combinations of notes on an instrument, the "Fables of the Sleepless Empires" are told using interestingly repeated combinations of...huge chunks of music, glued together by nothing that would make any sense in classical theories (cadences, progression, development etc.)
Yet for some reason it all works despite the fact that in every song there are layers upon layers of sonic elements coming out of every style imagined and vocals in a plethora of ranges and qualities. Let's take "Orange Vigilantes" as an example. It starts with a pretty safe progressive-metal intro, with distorted guitars and well, some electronic-something shredding. Then suddenly we have some theatrical chorused female vocals and some orchestral bangs in behind. Plus harsh growls and shrieks in between. After that the tempo goes back and forth with a gentle violin line on top of roaring guitars. And then everything stops and whe hear just a playful bass and a funky piano with clean vocals...
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| Official Website photo by Jenna Mason |
The climax of these is the surprising "In the Mind of the Last Whale", a short instrumental song that contrasts violently with all I've described above. Wow, is that even possible? Well, it certainly is. Coming out of all the distorted chaos, this gentle melody has an electronic layer reminiscent of the whale (and dolphin) sounds you might have heard on Discovery Channel (with added crazyness) and on top of that is a beautiful ambient piano and an ethereal voice giving the chills.
Similarly, "A Fading Stance" is another display of voice surrealism in a bed of hypnotic violin sounds exploring almost all the range of the instrument: long bowed notes, short arpeggios, staccato patterns and other experimentations all stacked until they almost become magic. In my opinion, these two short tracks are a great addition, as they bring a sort of weird relief after being dragged in a sort of chaos circus by the rest of the opuses, one more surprising than the other. The lyrics are also as twisted as the music, with poetic images on the verge of lunacy, but at the same time a clever reveal of the hysteria that usually governs our life.
"Fables of the Sleepless Empires" is definitely not for everyone. If you like tracks that you can follow along and bang your head to them, then you would probably get some nausea out of this one. UneXpect need attention and open mindedness, a change in the way you experience music. But if you can stop, look around you and see the frantic ways in which life goes around, then they will open you a new realm of possibilites.
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Rating: 10 / 10
Favourite Songs: "Orange Vigilantes", "Unfed Pendulum", "In the Mind of the Last Whale"
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