Review by Derek J. Huckel
Released: 15 July 2016
‘Through My Darkest Infernal’ is the debut album of supergroup, Akani. It features the singer Jorge Rosado of Merauder, Dead Reprises drummer Anders Löwgren, Daniel Cederborg, Path Of No Return guitarist, and Daniel Antonsson of At The Gates on bass.
Through My Darkest Infernal opens with ‘Ghetto’ which opens with a brief skit of paradoxes on Martin Luther Kings ‘I have a dream’ speech. It descends into hardcore with some swagger. In the skit, MLKs ‘dream’ is refuted, ‘you ain’t getting no one out of this ghetto!’ – and this is the heart of the albums philosophy.
If a sound was to be described, the first thing that came to mind was a mix of Biohazard/ Sepultura/ Hatebreed, using the anger of hardcore punk and heaviness of metal to breed this hybrid.
Akani – ‘I Won’t Run’ Clip
Save God seems to tread old tropes with ‘a great source of hatred in the world is religion’ but it does have some cool power guitar riffs and breakdowns though. Love, with such a title, is the ballad of the album. The title track is of sorts similar but a musical interlude which sounds like its writer was influenced by several 80s movie soundtracks when composing it.
Temple of Lies is a pick of mine, as is Warrior of Truth – the melody blended with its heaviness just grabbed me. The dated bridge interlude of Truth killed it for me a little, but this might grab many. Shango kicks some ass, and New World ain’t bad either – ushering out the album with its conclusion, and the album’s message, that the situation of the world is taking our soul.
Through My Darkest Infernal has a pretty solid sound, especially its more interesting first half, that isn’t too cliché though isn’t too new either. It also seems to forebode the potential of even more powerful fresh material to come.
Akani website www.facebook.com/akaniofficial
