Akacia

The best (and most promising) debut album of the year was An Other Life, by the American band Akacia. Packed with interesting and appealing melodies, this album of four long songs, billed as "progressive rock with spirit," is exactly that. The virtuosic guitar work of principal songwriter Mike Tenenbaum stands out, but also notable are his tasteful keyboards and a solid rhythm section. The vocals, by Eric Naylor, are very strong and expressive, and the lyrics center on religious themes presented with evident devoutness and sincerity. The music is very catchy, ranging from exhilarating highs to wistful pensiveness, and overall the album is quite a pleasurable and stimulating listening experience — and an impressive achievement for a debut work. - National Review Online

AKACIA is a progressive rock band that have never been afraid to play the best rock music, they are a group that simply do not sound as any another band, they follow the same musical line from the bands like GENESIS, YES, EL&P and KING CRIMSON… Their music is heavy and very solid, also very gentle, also very soft, these kinds of the arrangements were easily found in the bands of years 70, a world that the listener has a feeling that we returned to the past. You can bet, AKACIA is certainly one of the most enjoyable bands that I will have ever the pleasure to listen to. Excellent and highly recommendable to all progressive rock fans. - ProgArchives.com

Progressive Rock with a vintage yet original sound and spiritual themes. Akacia has recently released "An Other Life" - close to an hour of rich blends of heavy jams and mellow tapestries with soaring vocals woven together, intricate yet flowing throughout the four extended pieces that make up the CD. - RockBand.com

…I really wanted to dislike this album, but these guys are just too good to dislike. Akacia plays a very Yes flavored prog, and like Yes their lyrics have a spiritual theme. In this case, however, read "spiritual" as "Christian", with many allusions to "Jesus died for you, crucified, resurrected", etc. But if these kind of lyrics are either your cup of tea or you can just let the content go, the music here is outstanding. In composition, recording quality and overall "feel", this album is very much like Yes' Fragile album, with some hints that further development could lead them into Close to the Edge territory. Tennenbaum is obviously a Steve Howe fan, and mimics his fluid guitar soloing technique almost frighteningly well. Bassist Steve Stortz also has the Chris Squire Rickenbacker sound down to a tee, and some of the organ solos even sound a heck of a lot like Rick Wakeman used to in those days (including the sloppiness of some of the arpeggios ... but, hey, he's in good company here!). But vocalist Eric Naylor, while doing an excellent job, sounds nothing at all like Jon Anderson. Well, you wouldn't want them to sound exactly like Yes, would you? - New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock

I'm always ecstatic when new prog bands emerge, especially ones that are original sounding, creative, and spiritually minded. So I was overjoyed to receive a promo of Akacia's debut album, An Other Life. Billed as "Progressive Rock with Spirit" Akacia lives up to the hype. It's both quite progressive and the lyrics don't shy away from themes of faith and deliverance. Musically, Akacia has a unique, free-flowing, fusion-tinged style lifted from the early 70's progressive and psychedelic movement. Their songs are long and detailed, with lots of clean guitar riffs and nice synth and organ interludes upheld by a competent rhythm section. Comparisons are hard to make, because they are pretty original sounding. In some ways it reminds me somewhat of very early Kansas, without the violins. The vocals by Eric Naylor sound a bit like Ty Tabor of King's X, clean and soaring and pleasant to listen to. Even the lyrics sound like they were written in the early 70's, with a pure simplicity that echoes some of Phil Keaggy's Christian work with Glass Harp. Mike Tenenbaum, the principal songwriter, plays adequate, inspired lead guitar and adds some tasteful keyboard playing. His guitar solos rip, especially the extended jam on Hold Me. Doug Meadows and Steve Stortz round out the band with solid drum and bass playing, respectively. My only beef with this album is the cover art, which looks cheesy. Otherwise, this album is highly recommended. - Virtuosity

An Other Life is the debut album from American quartet (although they have recently added a fifth member) Akacia. The brainchild of Michael Tenenbaum, the band unashamedly take their influences and base their sound on 70's progressive stalwarts such as Yes, Genesis and King Crimson although are not afraid to take inspiration from newer bands such as Spock's Beard and The Flower Kings. However, that is not to say that the group sound like any of these bands as in the two year's of their existence they have managed to formulate their own sound.

With four tracks spread out over almost one hour, there is plenty of scope for the band to explore a variety of musical styles and tempos. The music employs a degree of subtlety that is wrapped in dramatic highs and plaintive lows giving an overall sound that, at times, sounds as if they are jamming around a groove (the end of Hold Me and sections of Journal being prime examples). In Michael Tennenbaum, Akacia not only have a fine writer, but also a very competent musician whose guitar work is at times exciting, subtle, powerful and even exploratory. Tennenbaum also contributes the keyboard parts but it is evident that the guitar is his prime instrument as there is a certain bias towards the stringed instrument throughout the album with relatively few keyboard breaks, the keys mainly adding shade and texture to the songs. However, the recent addition of keyboardist Dave Stratton to the line-up could hail a more prominent keyboard role on the new material currently being recorded for the band's second album, tentatively titled The Brass Serpent.

As for the other members of the band, vocalist Eric Naylor sounds, at times, uncannily similar to John Sloman when he was a member of Lone Star, particularly when he hits the higher registers; bassist Steve Stortz plays some pretty fluid runs, and at times is utilised as a lead instrument carrying the melody and driving the song forward, while drummer Doug Meadows, with years of experience and professional training behind him, is adaptable and solid providing a strong framework which the other band members can build upon. Most of the group members are multi-instrumentalists which considerably widens their musical options and must be useful in concert, as one couldn't hope to assemble a more competent bunch of musicians.

The major drawback to the album, and this is just personal preference, are some of the lyrics. Being a group of Christians the lyrics are reflective of their beliefs but often stick to 'standard' religious themes. This is not a criticism as such, just an observation that over-emphasising personal beliefs, be they religious or political, can potentially alienate sections of an audience. However, with the majority of each of the songs on the album being instrumental, this is not really too much of an issue and the group has the potential, like that other Christian progger Geoff Mann, to cross over to a wider, more secular audience.

On the whole, Akacia have delivered a strong debut album that will appeal to a wide variety of progressive fans. - Dutch Progressive Rock Pages