Black Messiah

Summon The Antichrist

Axiom

The Promise

My Apterous Angel

Distant Fires Reflect In The Eyes Of Satan

Man Without Faith Or Trust

The Dark Inside

Footsteps Resound In An Empty Chapel

 Epode

Jason Mendonca - Guitar/Vocals
Matt Wilcock - Guitar
Peter Benjamin - Bass
David Gray - Drums

AKERCOCKE: "Antichrist"  akercocke        

distributed in Switzerland by    

reviews by Matthew Haumschild and Gianrichy Giamboi

preview  by Matthew "Newbreed99" Haumschild ___             

How many metal bands have used 

Antichrist as a song title or album name?

           I have to admire a band that has the word “cock” in their band name. I was anxious at first to listen to this band because I heard that they were controversial and from England . But I hadn’t heard anything in terms of what they sound like. I can’t say that I was impressed by the name of the CD. Reason-being that it’s not exactly original. How many metal bands have used Antichrist as a song title or album name? Countless. I believe Slayer and Marilyn Manson have used it at least once.

            I was anxious in anyway to hear what the music sounded like.  Summon The Antichrist started off with ultra fast drumming and guitar playing with growling so low that it seemed to me that it was competing with the guitars. Now to the reader, death metal isn’t exactly the first thing I listen to when I go to my CD rack. About a minute into the song, the band goes completely in a different direction and plays without distortion and plays this melodic and dark passage and the singer stops sounding like a pissed off cookie monster and sings with this evil yet melodic voice that just sounds brilliant. But before I knew it, it went back to the fast and the furious.

            Axiom was a bit different from the track before it. It starts off with acoustic guitars and that evil melodic singing from the first track. However, the unusual part about this part of the song, were the drums. During this nice, dark, melodic singing and guitar work, were these ultra fast drums. It almost seemed unnecessary; I will say however that it is original. 30 seconds later, the distortion kicks in knocks out the rest of the song. It’s a pretty good track.

             Not all the tracks sound like the two above. My Apterous Angel starts out with this dark guitar sound that sounds like someone is entering hell. The funny part about this track is that is has crows “cawing” sounds in it, which I don’t hear very often in anyone’s songs. Also, it showcases the singer’s ability to be diverse with his singing, he sings dark, melodic then cookie monster all in the same song. The guitar work is really good in this song not to mention the drums do not sound as monotonous as they do in other songs. It’s not a terribly fast song. Another thing I like is that I could hear the bass guitar, and he’s actually soloing throughout the song, which is very unusual for metal. This song is the most diverse on the album, it’s dark, it’s slow, it’s fast in other parts, there’s intricate guitar parts, bass parts, technical singing, you name it, it’s in this song. It’s quite amazing actually.

            There were other tracks too on the CD that acted like interludes to the other tracks. The best comparison I have is that Sepultura did the same thing in Dante XXI. Tracks like, The Promise and  Distant Fires Reflect In The Eyes Of Satan are the best ones on the CD. Very dark and very intricate.

            Quality:

            The actual recording quality could have been better. The guitars sounded muddy at times however and the drums weren’t loud enough and not in my face. I couldn’t hear or feel the depth of the drums as well as I have on other CD’s that were recorded digitally. About the only things I really liked quality wise, the guitars and the bass were mixed to perfection. I could hear them both! And the singing was mixed well too. Yes, they have the low-end growl that competes with the guitars, but the singing is more varied than that. Not to mention the guitar work and musicianship is second to none.  The music was very dark although the theme wasn’t very original but it was executed well.

              If  you love Death Metal, I say buy it.

Rating: 7/10 

review by Gianrichy "Richy" Giamboi ___                    

simultaneous harmony and sickness.

After the last line up changing (bassplayer Peter Theobalds leaving the band) there could be some doubts about the quality of the coming album, as there are only two members of the original line up left in the band. But after listening to “ Antichrist” I can say, that every question remaining has been wiped away.

After a one minute intro, the band starts in its most furious way, smashing a super brutal blast part that kills everything and everyone on its way. As through the whole album, there are many melodic intermezzos that give the possibility to calm down a while and take breath for the next furious ultimate acoustic destruction. In my opinion these little jewels of simultaneous harmony and sickness give to the record the last bit of quality needed to make people speak of a really first class record. To some the compositions may give a rather chaotic impression, but honestly, after listening a few times the structures of the songs become more and more logic and natural. And after all Akercocke would not be Akercocke without that bit of musical insanity that characterizes this very original and sadly underestimated band. “Antichrist” has the potential to become one of these few albums that remain timeless after that one has get used to it. There has been given a huge depth to the compositions and the unconventional constructions and melodies create a big variety of different atmospheres that go together hand in hand, taking the listener to a journey of chaos, melancholy, rage and destructive insanity. In my eyes one of the best soundtracks to attend the lecture of Lovecrafts cthulhu myths.

The production is, in my opinion, the best one that Akercocke has been able to do until now. The difficulty, as in the most harder metal productions, is to make the whole sound powerful and in the same time enough transparent in order to give to every single instrument its own status. I can say, that the goal has easily been reached giving in the same time strength and clarity that are needed to enjoy easily every nuance without the need to put to much concentration in the decoding of the single parts.

If I had the possibility to wish alive package with the enclosure of Akercocke, I would chose to let them play together with Melechesh, Behemoth, Nile and Morbid Angel. This would be for me one of the best packages ever seen.

In the conclusion, I only can recommend everyone who likes the named bands, perhaps with the addition of Opeth to give Akercockes “Antichrist” a little chance, they really deserve it! The best album from these brothers of chaos until now!

Rating: 9/10 

Gianrichy Giamboi - 01.09. 2007

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