ACRANIA - An Uncertain Collision
October 24, 2012, 12 years ago
(Independent)
My review notes read “two MP3s at once?” and that sums up this Mexican band's sound very nicely. ACRANIA's mixture of various forms of Latin music and straight-ahead thrashing death/death-like thrash is certainly jarring at first; Chaos A.D. this ain't. But by the second song on this, their second album, once the initial confusion has worn off a touch, you realize it works really well. It doesn't sound “right” in the way that percussive, non-North American music often doesn't sound “right” at first: it's not just 4/4, and it sounds... off. Not in a MESHUGGAH or DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN way, but in a real “off” way, because the rhythms are different, the beats are difficult, the timing is complex and loose. But man, the saxophone work on 'Deceive The Pain' and the horns on 'A Praise To Madness' and, especially, 'In My Land' (wow), make this one a real winner. We talk lots about how metal bands are different and experimental, but this just makes all that stuff look by the books. I mean, how often do you see “vocals, rhythm guitar & trumpet” next to some dude making a grimacing face in an album's liner notes? This is the real deal.
