AKIMBO

This post's artist is from the September 2013 Mix. This is track #6.
You can download the September 2013 Mix right here.

Band: AKIMBO
Genres: Punk / Rock / Metal / Hardcore / Stoner
Related artists: AFI.
Country: Seattle, USA
Years Active: 1998-2012
Song: "Rockness Monster"
Album: "Forging Steel And Laying Stone"
Year: 2006
For fans of: Ed Hochuli, Doomriders, Old Man Gloom, Rage Against The Machine,
                    Rye Coalition and These Arms Are Snakes.

AKIMBO were my rock/metal gods for about a decade. Who am I kidding, they still are. From their 2nd album 'Elephantine' through to 'Navigating The Bronze', the band made exceptional albums. Think Black Sabbath meets a whack o'screaming and yelling ala Doomriders and Ed Hochuli. I would recommend starting with 'Elephantine' or 'Forging Steel And Laying Stone', as these 2 albums most strongly represent the band. 'City Of Stars' is a great album that happened to be the one record that showcased the founding guitarist AND the final guitarist, but suffers from some shitty mixing of the vocals. The instrumentals are what really carries this band, with catchy, driving riffing that is reminiscent of a heavier and faster Rage Against The Machine. AKIMBO also drops some serious breakdowns with twinkly bits and very driving bass, not unlike These Arms Are Snakes in "Life in the Noose" and "Spooning with Disaster". Upon listening to "Spooning with Disaster" again, if you are going to check out one album first, make 'Forging Steel And Laying Stone' that record, because it's a fucking flawless, epic, post-hardcore/metal masterpiece. It contains some of the best tracks I've ever heard, such as "Rockness Monster", "Spooning With Disaster", "Ground Control To Major Bummer" and "Maximillian: Jungle Warrior".

Nearing the end of the band's career, the vocalist began "singing" more. I have no issue with singing as long as it is in key and compliments the music. That being said, the 'Jersey Shores' album suffered from some weak singing. I'm all for musicians expanding their horizons, but I feel that they should be very diligent on bein self-aware of that expansion and if it fits within the framework of their sound. With AKIMBO, I don't feel that this was the case. The band fused the new and old styles together on their final album 'Live To Crush' which is a much better retirement record, as the band has dissolved until further notice. Read about that here.

With all that being said, AKIMBO was one of the best heavy/punk/hardcore/metal bands of all time. I would strongly recommend checking out the embedded songs and grabbing a few, if not all of the band's recorded output. You can still purchase most of their releases here. For the few albums that are not readily available and I currently have, they are posted in the discography section below. I could use some help with the first 2 releases, though!

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DISCOGRAPHY

2000 - Army Of Evil Robots Programmed For Human Destruction 7"
2000 - Teen Cthulu Split 10"
(both of these are unavailable, anyone with mp3s please post them!!!)

2002 - Harshing Your Mellow cd/12"LP

2003 - Elephantine cd/12"LP (download here)

2004 - City Of The Stars cd/12"LP (download here)

2006 - Forging Steel And Laying Stone cd/12"LP

2007 - Navigating The Bronze cd/12"LP

2008 - Jersey Shores cd/12"LP

2013 - Live To Crush 12"LP (download here)

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(2002) AKIMBO - "Life In The Noose" (from 'Harshing Your Mellow' cd)

(2003) AKIMBO - "Delilah" (from 'Elephantine' cd)

 

(2006) AKIMBO - "Rockness Monster" (from 'Forging Steel And Laying Stone' cd)

(2007) AKIMBO - "The Curse of David" (from 'Navigating The Bronze' cd)

 

(2013) AKIMBO - "I Am Very Successful" (from 'Live To Crush' LP)