Unexpect – Fables of The Sleepless Empire

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There’s a fine line between an album that is chaotic but is controlled, and an album that is simply chaotic. Devin Townsend‘s Deconstruction, for example, has moments of enormous chaos – but they are reasoned and controlled, the chaotic moments make sense. On the flip side, Fables of The Sleepless Empire by uneXpect is sheer and utter madness. It hasn’t perhaps strayed over the line into unlistenable chaos, but it certainly is sitting very close to it. That being said, one can’t help but admire the sheer precision of such advanced and chaotic music. From a purely technical perspective, uneXpect are incredibly hard to fault – every instrument is played to an enormously advanced technical level, including the band’s vocalists. The music is also impossibly imaginative, often brutally extreme and at times truly mesmerizing. To list the styles and genres utilized on such an album would be overly extensive – but a simple comparison might be to take the aforementioned Deconstruction, and then magnify the more disordered elements tenfold. It is melodic to an extent, but the joy of the album isn’t so much the melodies but how it all sounds when it comes together, unimaginable melodies and harmonies that come from all directions, numerous contrasting melody lines all vying for attention. Like the works of Dillinger Escape Plan or Mike Patton’s Mr. Bungle, both equally comparable, it is difficult music for arguably difficult people. It is creative and avant garde, and produced and recorded to a degree that the many minute details stand out. It most certainly is an album that should be experienced, as it is certainly mind-expanding in its musical scope – just don’t expect it to be something you’ll necessarily ‘get’.

Written by James Donovan
More: 2011, Albums, Progressive, Quick.Play Reviews, Unexpect