Akilla is a melodic death metal band from Cambridge in the UK and consists of members vocalist and guitarist Ross Wilson, drummer Ginger Taylor, guitarist David Hill (also from the band Elimination) and bassist Kathryn Hailes (Atorc). Formed in 2017, there has only been a few singles released to date by the band due to struggles to maintain a consistent line-up, but now they are ready to release their debut album, The Gods Have Spoken, on 2nd June 2023.
The eight-track album was written, recorded, and mixed by the band, with the exception of drums and mastering which were performed by Jack Helliwell at DC Studios, and every track on the album deserves its place there.
Kicking off with the atmospheric Winds Of Winter, this track really sets the tone for the rest of the album and shows the listener exactly what this band is about. There really is no better opening song than this to kick off this great album.
With heavy and furious riffs, guitars are one of the main driving forces behind this album. The sludginess of their sound really creating something dynamic and breath-taking for the band. Intricate guitar solos are interspersed throughout the album, and this really makes for a great contrast and it’s this mixture of the two that has the ability to kick you right in the stomach.
Strong basslines and ferocious double-kick drumming keep the tracks together perfectly and, together, they form an impenetrable foundation for the band.
The sound is completed with guttural vocals that are as frightening as they are hypnotising and these really pull you into the songs, conjuring up images of sea-faring Vikings and the like, really setting the imagination on fire.
Changes in timings and pace of the songs takes the listener on a sonic journey, fiving them time to breath, fleetingly, before throwing them back into the deepest darkest aspects of melodic death metal once more. But, this is more than a death metal album, the intricacies of some of the music being quite progressive too, and it is this that really makes this album stand out as truly epic and cinematic.
This really is a classic debut for the band and one that should really set them on the path to some big things. It has just about everything you could want from a melodic death metal album. It’s doomy, it’s gloomy, it’s heavy, and most of all it’s totally in your face!
I don’t give marks out of ten for album reviews anymore but if I did, this album would definitely receive an eleven!!
Immense album and I hope to hear more from them in the (near??) future! Don’t keep us waiting so long next time guys, although this album is DEFINITELY worth the wait!
Track Listing:
1) Winds Of Winter
2) Serpent & The Son
3) Queen Of Heaven
4) Song Of The Seafarers
5) Blood & Bone
6) Cosmica
7) The Gods Have Spoken
8) Echo
This review is the property of The Metal Asylum