The liner notes say Akimbo recorded its latest album in Seattle, Wash., but it seems more likely that the songs came straight out of hell.
Satan would gladly slap high-fives with all four band members for their latest release, "Forging Steel and Laying Stone," which came out on Jan. 24. Simply put, the songs are dark and meant to be played loud.
From the first heavy guitar riff to the last scream, Akimbo is a smoking cauldron of barbaric rock — a pinch of hard-core, two tablespoons of punk and a half cup of classic rock — all stirred up creating an ear-splitting potion. Think a cross between Black Sabbath and the Deftones.
"I'm a digging a hole/It's a one way hole/Straight down/I'll keep digging until I get to hell," shouts bass player and lead singer Jon Weisnewski on the fourth track, "Digging A Hole."
All 12 tracks are heavy, yet melodic. This is not a thrasher album because the band constructs intricate and tunneling melody lines — not just a deafening wall of feedback sludge.
Jared Burke Eglington and Patrick Cunningham both play guitar — supplying enthusiastic phrasing behind the screeching vocals of Weisnewski. And Nat Damm moves around his drum set like Animal from the Muppets — "I what do! Eat drums!"
The song titles for the album are wonderfully desolate and gruesome, including "Tina, Bring Me the Axe," "Sci-Fi Monster Violence" and "Ground Control to Major Bummer." And the lyrics follow suit.
Sadly, it's impossible to understand any of Weisnewski's lyrics because he's got that classic screeching growl going on. It's good that the lyrics are written in the CD booklet because trying to decipher what Weisnewski sings is like trying to follow pig Latin by a native Swahili speaker — inconceivable.
Just shrug your shoulders and start headbanging — that's the message Weisnewski projects with his intensely ambiguous vocals. And although his blustering articulation is not very original, he does have a good set of pipes.
Weisnewski does let the band show its sentimental side — or as tenderhearted as Akimbo can get — on the predominately instrumental tune titled "Tower of the Elephant."
You can check out Akimbo March 4 in Lansing at Mac's Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave. For more information, go to www.macsbar.com or the band's Web site at www.livetocrush.com.
