Nakpat - Quality Stuff

Reviewed: 3/27/24 4.5/5
Summary: Wacky, heavy, and unhinged. Fast and ever-changing grooves. Quality experimental metal.
Nakpat is a band consisting of Adam Gevo on vocals and Krzysztof Polanski on what seems to be on "music". That's what it says on the bandcamp. There's also help from Steven Beck Christensen for some drum programming and José Ricardo Oliveira for additional postpreduction. Speaking of, I typically hate chiptune type of stuff, but it's kept to enough of a minimum for me to enjoy it. And Adam is an absolute maniac on vocals that perfectly fit the fast and experimental approach to the music. The first track, Fourteen Nigerian Princes, does a great job of keeping everything fast but balanced. It's not too fast all of the time, nor too slow
Miroslav vs Miroslav heads more into heavier territory while still keeping it weird.
The instrumental is not too chaotic, but the vocals are all over the place. There's shouting, melodic singing, and then it gets a bit anxiety inducing at times as the instrumentals play into the vocals a bit.

Kachingas! is where the keyboards go crazy. But there's much more melodic riffs and singing in there too, but not too much for the chaotic nature of the band to be lost.
Mawps Co. has a slow and mysterious vibe to it, and the crazed vocals with incomprehensible lyrics kind of give the album a break from the fast and wacky stuff in the previous tracks while still doing something interesting. Around halfway there's a heavier change, but I won't reveal too much. 118 is among the longest tracks in the album, at 6:39. Another slow beginning, but it doesn't take too much time to make things a bit faster. Adam is an absolute maniac on the microphone again, but more extreme than before. He goes from crazy screaming to clean and softly spoken vocals. The instrumental really sticks with the vocalist a lot, regardless of what Adam is doing.
Big Ax II - The Hypnotech Years is much like the beginning of the album, with it being fast and crazy. But this time it takes its time to stop here and there and makes sure to get into a lot of progressions along with the vocalist.

The final track, Let the Dream Die is the longest track at over 11 minutes. It starts with a slow keyboard solo before slowly other instruments come in and out. This one has actually clean vocals and lyrics you can make out. The chord progressions are much more recognizable than the rest of the album. But this song surprises me as I think it's going to be a typical emotional closer, at the 5 minute mark it changes from that to something different. Its enough of a change for me to see it as a much better closer that it switches things up on you as soon as you think it's going in one direction.
Honestly, Adam Gevo is a terrific vocalist for this type of music, and I can only hope he does more. This album never lets things go too much in one direction, and I love it. Pair that up with grooves that are compelling but always changing and a great vocalist for chaotic music and I'm very pleased. If you like wild music with a wacky vibe to it check this album out.
Recommended Tracks: Fourteen Nigerian Princes, Miroslav vs Miroslav, 118.