It’s no secret that we love Seething Akira and they’re one of the bands we were bouncing about when we managed to snag them for our Rocktoberfest (October 19th, Glasgow – tickets on sale now!). Given they’ll almost certainly be playing some songs off Cancel Estate on the night, it better be good…
Seething Akira have been through a few changes over the years since we first found out about them. They started off with a heavy dance/club influence that was tempered a bit with the introduction of an additional guitarist for Dysfunctional Wonderland. Despite being a metal fan foremost, I actually found that detracted a little from the album. I liked the fusion and crossover element and was glad when the balance was restored with 2022’s Nozomi.
I am glad to report that Cancel Estate follows very much in those footsteps, with a couple of songs that continue to push the band’s sounds in new directions. No time is wasted as “Ixnay” kicks in with a catchy club backbeat, guitars, and catchy vocals. Everything I love about Seething Akira right there in the first thirty seconds. Honestly, if you need to sum the band up in 3 minutes, just play this. Rappy vocals, melodic vocals, a chorus you can sing to, lyrics that make you think “I’ve been through that as well”, a cracking guitar solo… What a start.
Ramping up the electronica is “Decayed Remains Of Today”, which sounds a bit more like the older material yet somehow better. I can’t put my finger on it, maybe it’s the production, but something make it absolutely slay. “Resilient” ramps up the adrenaline, spitting venom as a wonderfully bitter rap-led number. And those bass guitar tones. OOFT. This will have the dancefloor bouncing. The flow seems to continue with “Times Change”, but perhaps apt given the title it metamorphoses into something a little more experimental as the song goes into its second half.
New single “Sunflower Shadows” (check it out below) is the second time this week I’ve drafted an album review and said that Bowling For Soup could have had a hand in its creation. While not quite as pop-punk as The Offspring’s “Make It All Right”, a good portion of it has those BFS vibes.
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The band ask “How Are Things Up North” with a track that’s appropriately very industrial. This non-stop belter either has your toe tapping or your head banging… or your arms doing “big fish, little fish”. It’s all in here. This is followed by probably the most frenetic track I’ve heard from them, “D.R.I.L.L.E.R”. Keeping the industrial chops from “Up North”, the opening sequence is a near -thrash experience, and this is repeated a couple of times. Nobody will be staying still at Ivory Blacks if they throw this one out.
The heavy continues with “Blame Pain” which thuds through you, even during the more lilting moments. That drum beat is killer. The samples and asynchronicity hit hard with “You Don’t Want None”. There are bits and pieces of this track that I do like, but the whole does feel a little disted. There are some beautifully heavy moment, some crazy dance bits… but I’m not sure if they all fit together as well as they could.
“Hyperbolic”, though, restores order and is a fitting closer to the album. A breathless number with a great, simple riff that lies underneath some machine-gun vocals and that unforgiving tempo. There’s a nice gentle breather halfway through, but Seething Akira know how to use it to build towards a suitably madcap climax.
So, with one (2 1/2) minute exception we have a bloody amazing album. What I found as I was listening was how easy it is to get into. The more niche sections of most songs are buried further into their running time, so by the time you hit the massive beats and breakdowns you’re already invested. This makes for an album full of very accessible music. Cancel Estate is your gateway drug into the world of “electronic nu-core”, and it’s one that’s going to give you a hell of a bangover.
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Cancel Estate is out on October 25th
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