Japanese-born, UK-based musician Ryuki Akira is giving away his six-track debut EP for free, with more on-the-house releases coming. This instrumental artist specialises in unflinching post-industrial metal, refracted through a lens of 21st century electronics and production smarts Staring Into Darkstar is a prog-metal anthem waiting to happen – you can imagine Maynard James Keenan or Fear Factory’s Burton C Bell wailing over this bad boy.
Album highlight Freeland morphs over seven minutes from shimmering guitars, into a busy mid-section with some crazy kickdrum action, and out the other side into an insistent melody.
Akira knows when to break things down and build them up again: the desolate lone piano of Endless is a refreshing amuse-oreille; the discordant synth-strings of all-too-brief Intro 7 evoke Vangelis at his most obstreperous, leading into 7, the crunchiest, most intense and progressive track here.
The Wave. The Raven. Invisible Dream. is a breathtaking calling-card from an uncompromising talent. Download at: soundcloud.com/iamnimdok; iamnimdok.tumblr.com or iamnimdok. bandcamp.com.
