Unexpect - In A Flesh Aquarium

Very good album...so impressed with the seamless transitions in the songs and with the wide array of vocals. Very scary atmospheres, especially their instrumental track. The sound is really quite impressive-- how one song can pull off violins, piano and saxophone and intense drumming just bewilders me.

Main issue with this album is what I call the "Mars Volta syndrome"-- lyrics are too complex and almost incomprehensible for true enjoyment, and they are way too self-indulgent for their own good. You can follow albums like Anthology II and Process of a New Decline- the concept makes sense and the lyrics are coherent provided you know the story. But with this album...I can't even come to make sense of its lyrical content. Maybe that pours into its brilliance-- but it frustrates me because I feel I should know what the lyrics sorta means. Avant-garde isn't necessarily about abstract technical proficiency and "doing as much as you can at the same time" for me...moments of coherence in the insanity are found by most excellent avant-garde artists. How does their new style CONNECT to conventional metal? That is the question I look for in great avant-garde. This is undoubtably one of the quirkiest, insane styles I have EVER heard...but I don't see it having a great influence on metal because it does little to bridge to conventional metal. 8/10

Although-- this makes me want to listen to more French avant-garde metal, including more Unexpect...so maybe it has done its job right!

Saw these guys live in 2007 and I thought they sucked.

^ you-tube disagrees .

Chaotic. Unpredictible. Original. Fantastic.

Much better than I remembered

It's a brilliant experimental opus with utterly complicated, and chaotic musical structures. Those who love complexity, craziness and forward-thinking notions of experimentalism would appreciate the efforts of the band. All the tracks sound astonishing in every sense, but the most noticeable characteristic is the non-repetitive musical pattern. With the densely structured chaotic sounds, the theatrically structured sombre melodies strengthen the overall quality of this album.