NAVIGATING THE BRONZE, the fifth studio album from Seattle's Akimbo, is their heaviest and most dynamic release to date. This battle axe of a record was sculpted at Head Bang and Kill Your Mama studio in Louisville, KY with Chris Owens (Lords, Ed Gein, Young Widows, etc.) whose talent for capturing heavy-hitting bands culminated in ten songs sure to crumble the walls around your stereo. NAVIGATING THE BRONZE, Akimbo's second full-length on Alternative Tentacles (third including the 2007 reissue of Harshing Your Mellow (Virus 369)) features a revamped lineup with fretboard wizard Aaron Walters on guitar and the familiar cement-tight rhythm section of founding members Nat Damm (drums) and Jon Weisnewski (bass/vocals). In addition to a refreshed guitar sound, Weisnewski's token throat-shredding has evolved into a deeper, more ferocious bellow, lending a primal quality to the vocals as well as fueling the inferno with new melodies. Tracks like "You Can Hear the Honey", "Wizard Van Wizard" and "Huge Muscles" will sound instantly familiar to the seasoned Akimbo connoisseur with frantic pacing and more changes than one can count on two hands. However, NAVIGATING THE BRONZE has its cache of surprises for old fans, including a classical tribute to Bach in "Megatherium" and drummer Nat Damm - a multiple Seattle Weekly Best Drummer nominee - doing his first ever solo track "Roman Coins." At once the most varied and sonically mature Akimbo record thus far, Navigating The Bronze is certain to take the band to the next level.
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