Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Akimbo was founded in 1995 when bass player and vocalist Jon Weisnewski and drummer Nat Damm met in their high school gym class. Sharing a love for DC hardcore and punk, the two quickly became fast friends. Since playing their first show on Halloween night in 1998, Akimbo have had no less than 11 guitarists, finally settling on Aaron Walters in 2006. After opening for Melvins and punk icon Jello Biafra in 2005, the band was approached by Biafra and signed to his label, Alternative Tentacles, to release 2006's "Forging Steel And Laying Stone". Also released on Alternative Tentacles was the band's first album with Walters on guitar, 2007's "Navigating The Bronze". In late 2007, Akimbo played a show opening for Converge and Neurosis, and was asked by Neurosis frontman Steve Von Till to join his label, Neurot Recordings. In October of 2008 the band released their most critically acclaimed album to date, "Jersey Shores", a concept album inspired by a series of mysterious shark attacks that occurred on the beaches of New Jersey in 1916. Showing a substantial deviation from the style of their earlier recordings, "Jersey Shores" offers spiraling, melodic lines intertwined with crushing, drop-tuned chugging, the end result of which is a post-hardcore masterpiece. With a discography that channels everything from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath to Converge and Melvins, Akimbo are a band quickly on the rise in the metal underground, and a great addition to any music fan's collection.
*Note* All of the downloadable copies of Jersey Shores seem to have vanished. I can't find a good link to it anywhere. I'll keep looking for one, but in the meantime I would suggest buying it from iTunes.
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