Multinational act Akani play a form of groovy hardcore and this, their first full-length album, is one that grows with more listens and fits in nicely within the genre as a whole.  Their sound is similar to early Hatebreed, with some heavy lurches and breakdowns to complement the strong vocal style of Jorge Rosado (Merauder).  Anders Bjorler (At The Gates) and Daniel Antonsson (ex-Soilwork, Dark Tranquility) do a fine job on the guitars, adding a nice touch of that good ol’ Gothenburg sound no doubt inspired by their previous projects, with Anders Lowgren (Dead Reprise) handling the skin work and Victor Brandt (Entombed) on bass.  This could definitely be called the oft thrown around label of ‘Supergroup’ as there is no shortage of musical talent.

With that being said there’s not much new here, with lyrics that tend to focus on the normal themes of rising above the travails of life and continuing to fight, and improving your situation while ignoring the haters.  Luckily this one doesn’t bleed too much into the “bro-core” genre, though they definitely flirt with it at times.  Production is solid overall, with a nice low end pop that really is needed if an album like this is to pack much of a punch.  The best track on the whole album, “The Lost”, is also unfortunately one of the shortest.  It’s got a killer groove riff and a deeper bellow from Rosado that would be an absolute pit-churner during live shows.  Other ones to check out are “Temple of Lies” and the penultimate track “Pure and Free”.

The album as  a whole clocks in at around 39 minutes, which is definitely on the longer end of the spectrum, but there is plenty of variation so it doesn’t feel overly long.  The album also starts out with one of the coolest samples I have heard in a while.  I even did a search to try and find where it came from, but I wasn’t able to do so.  If you’re into this style it’s one that would be worth your time to check out.

[Visit the band's website]

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