Contre-courant

Contre Courant is a collaborative piece between thesyre, another quebecois Black Metal band, and the mighty Akitsa. The whole of this realease sounds nothing like the usual mid paced lo-fi droning black metal that Akitsa has become known for. Instead the sound is thick and heavy, with a bit too much crunchy bass to attain a good black metal sound. However, since it was not entirely done by akitsa, some differences are to be expected.

The vocal delivery is not bad on this release, and I quite respect the subject of the lyrics, as far as i can figure they are about pride in homeland and anger at the state of their modern country and government; not the most original of themes, but one that comes across very clear and intentional. There is a lot of double tracking on the vocals and some fast paced chanting thrown in to counteract the basic but always welcome raspy screech.

The music does not have the elevating and monolithic aura that makes akitsa pieces so enjoyable. The guitars are very heavy-rock sounding and the riffs are nothing all too original, although some of the slower parts are quite good. Overall it may leave a listener with an unfulfilled and odd feeling of disappointment. Maybe its the jarring poppy-ness that the sounds seem to form under in a pseudo-punk fashion, but never really becoming anything more than worn out black metal.