Fables of the Sleepless Empire

Fables of the Sleepless Empire does, to be fair, represent a minor improvement over its predecessor in that it's not-quite-as annoyingly chaotic. But Unexpect are still held back by the same thing: they haven't got a clue how to write a goddamn song.

Or maybe they have but just don't want to, but the end result is the same: a random jumble of nonsense. There is the occasional section that shines through as something listenable, but it doesn't last long before it's enveloped in the sound of instruments being raped. Every song has its scattered moments, but none have any real distinct identity.

Throughout the album you'll hear black metal chaos alongside soft lilting melodies, Dillinger Escape Plan-brand mathcore accompanying symphonic compositions and technical guitar noodling joining forces with demented circus-inspired music. Written like that, it probably sounds very appealing and to some I'm sure it will be, but when thrown together mish-mash like this, there's nothing to interest the listener and nothing to draw someone in and make any one part stick out. Even the individual sections are only average on their own aside from the haphazard way they're put together.

There's nothing wrong with being avant garde, progressive, or just plain experimental. All of those can be very rewarding when done right as artists like Devin Townsend, Waltari, or Thy Catafalque prove. The difference is that those artists can actually put together a decent song. They use their experimental or progressive writing to enhance the whole while Unexpect simply try to be as schizophrenic as possible for an hour.

No album in the avantgarde arena is causing more excitement this year than Unexpect's Fables of the Sleepless Empire; and for avid fans of the genre, this is very understandable. It's an erratic, swerving showcase that makes you wonder what will happen next, while still keeping a bit of melody to latch on to. The leads are all over the place, as are the insane vocals, creating some of the least accessible music I've listened to in recent memory. Unfortunately, even though the technical bombast is rather mesmerizing and beauteous, it is this very element that deprives the album of much of its memorability. It passes by like a hypersonic blur, and although that mirage may have seemed attractive, it's difficult to say with certainty what you actually just saw.

The band definitely wins points on the originality front, as there's just not a lot that sounds like this. I probably couldn't name one group off the top of my head. Based on sheer technicality, stripped down to its elements it may resemble a less sane Watchtower (yes, I said less sane). The sound itself feels much more modern and streamlined, with a squeaky clean production almost entirely free from crunch. The purpose here is not heaviness, I suppose: it's more like listening to an elegant circus of misfit players. Plenty of tunes display both the band's talent (and ADD): "Orange Vigilantes" is an eyebrow raising spectacle, and "Unfed Pendulum" is one of the most progressive. The vocals are a mixed bag, however. Female vocalist Leïlindel is pretty great, but there are way too many cheesy spoken parts for my taste. I wish those guys would shut up and let her sing. The lyrics being sung are complete nonsense. Don't bother trying to decode this enigmatic poetry.

Fables of the Sleepless Empire is... well, difficult. It's one of those albums where you keep thinking, "wow, these guys have a lot of talent," but don't realize that you never stopped to really enjoy it once it's over. It definitely has some tremendous skill going for it, but it's just not savory to my perplexed palate. As it gets further along, the songs start to run together as you struggle to catch up. The somber "Words" is probably the track I enjoyed most, simply because it was the most grounded. For fans of this dizzying breed of music, Unexpect's latest is obviously a must have. For those unfamiliar with their music and skeptics of avantgarde, skipping out on hearing this wouldn't be too fatal a move to make.

(http://metallicfaithimmortal.blogspot.com/)

In 2006, a band from Quebec quietly released an album that has since become the standard for avant-garde extreme metal. The band was UneXpect, and the album was 'In A Flesh Aquarium', a chaotic masterpiece which shocked many a listener for its uncompromisingly original take on metal, and complexity that bordered on insanity. Putting this band on the map with that album, it was natural for expectations (and tension) to be set very high for the release of the follow-up. The first months of 2011 were filled with apprehension for UneXpect's third record, given the aptly surreal title 'Fables Of The Sleepless Empire'. Although many bands tend to cave under the pressure of releasing an album that tops their magnum opus, UneXpect proves here that not only are they able to hold their fire, but are only getting more fierce. Although I had no problem calling 'In A Flesh Aquarium' a masterpiece even after many listens, it takes an album like 'Fables' to show me how flawed the band's second work really was. Maturing and consolidating their incredibly unique sound, UneXpect has once again raised the bar, and simply stated; created one of the most mind-boggling metal albums to have been released in quite a few years.

It's not that UneXpect have changed up their sound all too much from 'In A Flesh Aquarium'; their style is still technical, fiendishly complex, convoluted, and quirky as all hell. What does take 'Fables Of The Sleepless Empire' up to the next step in the band's evolution however is the fact that they have noticeably matured their sound from the sophomore. For all of its brilliance, 'In A Flesh Aquarium' was still quite a silly album that often sounded like it was trying to be 'avant' for the sake alone of being avant-garde and weird. Here, UneXpect sounds like they are trying to put together more cohesive compositions, with clearer melodies and greater dynamic between the chaotic tech sections and 'beautiful' passages. Remarkably, UneXpect has done this at no loss of weirdness or depth; 'Fables Of The Sleepless Empire' remains an incredibly challenging listen, especially to a listener who does not have the precedent of 'In A Flesh Aquarium' to fall back on.

Also, much of the tongue-in-cheek circus music which defined the second album for some is gone here, in the favour of more serious fusion sounds. Most notably among the non- metal sounds on 'Fables' is the often classically-nuanced violin work of Borboen, who gives the string section a strong foothold on the sound. Often when the guitars and mind-blowing bass work are blistering riff after riff of avant-garde madness, the violin grounds the band with a sense of near-gothic class. Musically, each member is at the top of their game, and after many listens to 'Fables Of The Sleepless Empire', it is difficult not to see these musicians as some of the best to have ever come out of the metal scene. Of special note is the bass work of Chaoth, whose fury with the 9 string bass is nearly unparalleled. Although the bass guitar is often lost in the mix of much rock music, the bass makes itself very prominent, especially in the most technical of 'Fables's instrumentations.

Vocally, the vocals may be the least remarkable aspect of what UneXpect has to offer, but also the greatest point of derision among prospective listeners. Featuring a variety of different growls, rasps, guttural vocals and even harmonies between these, the vocals are as over the place as the instruments, which can certainly be an acquired taste for some. However, these are placed in tandem with some clean vocals, occasionally falling to some low clean male vocals, but most often being placed on the unique alto voice of Leilindel. Due to the highly erratic chaos of the instruments and growls, she is left to defend most the melodic aspect from being overrun by the chaos, and for the most part, she holds her own, her jazz-affected vocal work swinging around the towers of guitars, bass, electronic samples and classical violin.

The songwriting here can be said to rest at the level of genius, even if it were only for the sheer amount of ideas and complexity that Syriak and company are able to push into each song. However, 'Fables Of The Sleepless Empire' reaches its level of near-perfection by the fact that each idea flows incredibly well into the next; each song is a condensed fury of ideas that each come at the listener with remarkable energy and context. Even with 'Unsolved Ideas Of A Distorted Guest' featuring ideas as disparate as a Celtic-tinged bass and violin intro to an electronic dance break, it all works perfectly, tied together by the melodic vocal work and dynamic ebb and flow that runs throughout the album. The last three tracks may have made more sense to have been combined into one track (as they make a running suite of music), but overall, 'Fables' runs and flows quite smoothly.

Regardless, 'Fables Of The Sleepless Empire' is an album that I would have new things to say about each time I listen to it; it's rare to hear such a wealth of ideas piled into fifty minutes, let alone to have things sound so well-arranged and cohesive. Although it may not have the shock value of such a groundbreaking album as 'In A Flesh Aquarium', it is certainly a fair step above its predecessor, taking the existing style of UneXpect, trimming the fat, and fashioning an experience that is detailed enough to present a constantly developing experience to the dedicated listener. Although I never tend to say this for new albums, it took me quite a few embroiled listens to realize that 'Fables Of The Sleepless Empire' is right up there with the other landmarks of progressive metal.

Metal is a wonderful genre of music, in part because of its expansiveness and versatility. It is possible to experiment within the metal sound to a great extent, to the point that you can have two metal bands from differing subgenres that sound absolutely nothing alike. This is especially evident within the avant-garde section of metal, where you can find such disparate groups as Arcturus, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Mr. Bungle, and Voivod. uneXpect are perhaps lesser known than the aforementioned bands, but their previous album In A Flesh Aquarium certainly established them as a force to be reckoned with, with its combination of harsh vocals, female vocals, violin, electronics, and dexterous basswork. Yet, for all that it did right, it was an extremely inaccessible piece of music, often devolving into extreme weirdness at the cost of the music.

In the five years since In A Flesh Aquarium, uneXpect have apparently been working a great deal on their songwriting, and to great effect. Fables Of The Sleepless Empire is a massive improvement over an already-excellent album in practically every way; no small feat, there. And the songwriting is the primary reason for this. Where previously uneXpect would sometimes seem to lose sight of where a song was going in its meanderings, now they remain razor-sharp without losing any of the experimentation that makes them what they are. Before, they reminded me of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum more than anything else, but on Fables Of The Sleepless Empire there’s a lot more Stolen Babies and Diablo Swing Orchestra present, with the song structures seeming a lot more coherent.

Musically, they seem to have honed their already considerable talents to a fine point, starting with bassist ChaotH, whose 9-string bass plays a key role in the band’s sound. He’s in fine form on Fables Of The Sleepless Empire from the beginning, providing some of the most varied bass sounds this side of Nuclear Rabbit’s Jean Baudin and generally setting the tone. Equally important are the vocals of Leïlindel, who has gone from something of a co-vocalist role on In A Flesh Aquarium to more of a lead role here. She has definitely risen to the challenge, and while she doesn’t have quite the versatility of, say, Pin-Up Went Down’s Asphodel, she more than holds her own, nearly stealing the show in her own right and contributing some harsh vocals to boot.

And let’s not forget the rest of the band. Guitarists/vocalists Syriak and Artagoth combine for some amazingly complex riffs, textures, and leads, with a dash of acoustic here and a pinch of circus-like melody there. Blaise Borboën-Léonard provides violin quite ably, adding yet another layer of complexity to the proceedings and adding a great deal of beauty to the music. Drummer Landryx handles a great number of tempos and paces with ease, seamlessly going from double-bass blasting to more syncopated sections to more relentless pounding. And the album wouldn’t be complete without the electronic contributions of the band’s former keyboardist Exod, who left the band after recording but before the album’s release. The sheer breadth of the range of sounds he adds is staggering.

I could try to really describe the music here, but to be honest, it would be a futile exercise. There is simply so much happening here that it would be like trying to describe a Van Gogh painting to a blind man. You simply cannot do justice to the original. Suffice it to say that the music here is incredible, dense, beautiful, focused, and chaotic, all at once, but there’s so much more to it. I had some high hopes for this album after hearing ‘Orange Vigilantes’ a while back, but this album has exceeded, nay, shattered those expectations. It is an utter masterpiece and if, at year’s end, I were to find it perched atop my list of favorites from the year, I would not find that at all, ahem… unexpected.

Originally posted at The Number Of The Blog

Some bands claim to be weird and avant-garde. Other bands actually are weird and avant-garde, and it is in this latter circle that Canadian extreme metallers firmly stand. Drawing comparisons ranging from Dååth through Sikth to Cynic, it becomes impossible to pigeonhole this release beyond the basic “metal” umbrella term; 15 genres in one album is not an understatement. After 5 years since their last psychotic outing, In A Flesh Aquarium, they return with Fables Of The Sleepless Empire, a fresher and tighter bout of pure madness.

Right from the opening track, the band demonstrate what they have learnt since the last album in a few distinctive ways. Firstly, hiring Borboën has meant a prominent increase of violin from cacophony-creator to melody-maker, while the vocals have now managed to merge with the music more efficiently than before. The 9-string bass still makes a strong appearance, such as in the intro of “Unsolved Ideas Of A Distorted Guest”, intertwining impressively with Syriak and Artagoth's guitars and ExoD's piano on “The Quantum Symphony” when they aren't chugging away à la Dååth or Meshuggah or following technical tapping lines. Electronic elements also feature from the keyboardist, notably in the tech-black style of “Silence This Parasite”. Indeed, the only sane instrument seems to be the drums, and even they demonstrate their might in “When The Joyful Dead Are Dancing”. What comes through strongly is how everything interconnects; not all instruments fire on all cylinders constantly, but there is more than enough to grasp the listener's attention.

Three vocalists normally make me skeptical, but here they are needed. Each appear to cover all styles possible, Leïlindel going from an classical-pop clean to an intimidating snarl, and Syriak is akin to a crazier Sean Farber. The lyrics are bizarre, to say the least, and take a lot of digging to unearth the meaning within. “Orange Vigilantes”, as an example, is about vegetables attacking humanity and oranges are going to save us: “Heroic icons of the vegetable supremacy/A mistreated garden, their ultimate purgatory”. They demonstrate their use of lyrics as phonetic tools rather than poetry, given some of the lines which are pure nonsense (“El takidnys sed selliugia/El takidnys sed selliugia eralced (enu everg)/Numbers on strike”) and only contribute to the oddness of the music. One of the few times where bad lyrics actually add enjoyment to an album.

The main flaw with this album is just how bizarre it is for the first few spins. A lot of time is needed to fully understand, let alone appreciate the layers of music and sounds going on within. Another feeling is that the album is slightly weak in structure; having two ambient tracks near the end means they get lost amidst the heavier metal tracks, and so they end up spending all their ammo on the first 6 tracks.

After a long and arduous affair, I can now finally say that this album tickles my fancy. One friend of mine described the album as “written by Bellatrix LeStrange”, and I am inclined to agree with them. I realize that beauty is in the ear of the beholder in this case, but with a bit of open-mindedness and a fair amount of repeated listens, it is possible to lose yourself in the chaos of Fables Of The Sleepless Empire.

Originally posted on www.mostlymetal.wordpress.com

This album, I think, should and will be hailed as one of the best that the bizarre genre of avant-garde metal has ever put it. The album’s release was delayed because the label wanted to change some things that the band refused to change so they went independent and thank god they did. There’s really no way I could see this album being any better than it is now. Unexpect was incidentally my first extreme metal band as well as my first avant-garde one so I will concede that I am perhaps a bit biased towards them, but that does not stop this album from being a masterpiece. I was mildly afraid that they would simply release an “In a Flesh Aquarium” part two, but I will stress that once again, this album is a completely different beast. In fact, out of their 3 different albums, I would say that this is their best despite the fact that I still love their fantastic debut “Utopia.” The music on this album is still weird, but in a different way. Instead of the circus-like feelings of “In a Flesh Aquarium,” you get all kinds of strange soundscapes including jazzy sections, acoustics and even some noise and other electronic stuff. However, the album is still firmly planted in the extreme avant-garde metal genre just like the rest of their releases.

A huge plus for the band is the immense amount of talent and skilled musicians in it. One of the reasons why I enjoyed Utopia over In a Flesh Aquarium was because I felt that the latter concealed their true capabilities a bit too much. However, in this album, the band does not hold back at all and shows off their musicianship. ChaotH and his 9-stringed bass do much to impress listeners as soon as the bass kicks in on the first song “Ideas of a Distorted Guest” which literally gave me goosebumps at the impressive mix of violins, keyboards, bass and Leïlindel’s wonderful vocals. ChaotH’s bass playing is insanely complex throughout the whole album and thanks to a better production; it is much more prominent than on In a Flesh Aquarium which is a huge bonus. But it’s not just the bass that has gotten better. Syriak and Artagoth have already established themselves as excellent guitar players, but on this album they play even more complex riffs and melodies. Guitar and bass work are nothing short of technical, but thanks to Unexpect’s unique style of writing there is no lifeless wanking just insanely structured chaotic yet amazing riffs.

A big, big, step up for the band is the violin. In the past, it was just merely a background instrument to add some nice atmosphere and melodies, but in this album the violin suddenly bursts forward taking forth new roles. This is probably thanks to the new violin player Blaise Borboen-Leonard who is a much better player than their old one. The increased violin presence is only a good thing in my book as it keeps the album sounding fresh as well as carrying important rhythms and melodies throughout the music. The drums and keyboards are the most lackluster instruments unfortunately, but they do their job well. The drums keep the music steady while playing some good fills, double bass, and cymbal work. It’s good, but not extra spectacular. The same is true with the keyboards. It is mostly used to complement the violin or add some bizarre electronic element executing its job well, but it’s not a prominent instrument at all. However, the drums and keyboards are still performed and executed well, and it’s obvious from a few listens from the album that neither were meant to have any sort of leading role in the music like the other instruments have.
The vocals also take a step up as well. Unexpect is blessed with three different vocalists all of which can do both harsh and clean vocals rather well. Just like the last album, both Syriak and Artagoth generally handle the harsh vocals while Leïlindel handles the clean ones. And just like the other album, both sides will sometimes cross over into the “other territory” by not doing their typical roles. However, the vocals are still excellent and come in many varieties to attack you. There is plenty of screaming, growling, beautiful singing as well as even choir arrangements to keep the vocals interesting and fresh. They are delivered very well, suit the music perfectly, and are simply pleasing to the ear. What makes them better than the other two albums is that the vocals are simply more varied than what they were on the other.

The album on the whole is very complex and hard to digest as well. It undoubtedly sounds good on the first listen, but you really have to listen to it multiple times to form an understanding for the music. It is ridiculously layered with so many instruments and other things going on at once. It is weird music, but luckily there is no weird part just for the sake of being weird (notably, “Feasting Fools’” keyboard thing from the second album). The album is simply avant-garde because of the strange unconventional way they write. The songs all tremendously vary having piano breaks, acoustic parts, and even violin leads backed up by guitars and bass. Honestly the only complaint I really have is that for the sake of convenience, the last 3 tracks should be put all together in one. However, it’s not really important because it all flows together on the CD anyway. Of course, this is not for everyone including metalheads. You have like weird stuff (or be kinda of weird like me) to really appreciate this, but I can assure you. If you like avant-garde metal, then this album will instantly move up as one of your favorites. All in all, all of the instruments blend together to create a crazy yet amazing sound that I will be gladly listening to countless times. Unexpect already had my respect as great musicians, and now it has just gone up tenfold with this amazing release. I truly thank them for this wonderful gift to the music world.