The Symphonic Extreme Metal band, AKROMA, came to life in 2003 from the musical passions of Alain Germonville and Matthieu Morand. Based in the French city of Nancy, the duo originally conceived AKROMA as a concept band that would explore the seven deadly sins and other biblical subjects. After a lengthy process of working with a number of guest musicians and a couple of releases, the band solidified to its current line up in Sept of 2010 and later released an album titled "The Last Supper". AKROMA have returned to the musical fray, once again, with their latest album, "Apocalypse (Requiem)", released through Fantai'Zic records.

As can be expected with this particular genre of metal, the songs on this album are quite grandiose with some very impressive displays of musicianship. All six tracks are something of an epic in themselves, running from five and a half to just over eight minutes in length, it is quite clear that a great deal of time and effort has gone into the composition of these songs and the resulting production on the recordings highlights that. There really is some world class guitar and drum work here that is worthy of the attention of any serious metal fan; the orchestral arrangements and female operatic vocals and chants adequately provide that grand atmosphere and a metaphoric delicate touch, like a blood soaked rose.

For me, the most standout pieces of music on "Apocalypse (Requiem)" were the tracks, Sanctus and Agnus Dei; both of these songs were the most potent displays with the catchiest vocal lines and emotive overtones, the instruments provide the musical artillery that makes extreme metal the force that it is. However, like with many bands I have heard, there is always this one reoccurring thing that drags the whole release down, and I'm sorry to say, it's the main vocals. That shrill, high pitch scream that was made famous by Black Metal, is really quite overdone here, and at times it is kind of scratchy and I would go so far as to say, on occasion, it is "difficult" to listen to. The shame of it is the vocalist's deeper and mid-range growling voice is excellent and it's a real asset to this band; I would really like to hear more of that in their next release.

But still, there is plenty here to appeal to fans of Symphonic Extreme Metal, AKROMA are most certainly not just another carbon copy of DIMMU BORGIR.<