Antichrist

Akercocke have, in my opinion, outdone themselves. While "Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone" was good, "Antichrist" simply blows it away on practically every level. The experimentation level has been raised significantly, but it's still an amazing blend of Black and Death metal.

When I heard the opener, "Black Messiah," I hoped that it would not foretell my listening experience (as this track is utter shit). And, thankfully, it didn't.

"Summon The Antichrist" is extremely good and gives a heads-up to what Akercocke can do: the growls are deeper (the vocals overall are better), the riffs are better, and the drumming pounds your head like it should. There's also a good solo in the song.
"Axiom" opens up in a strange way: acoustic guitar and clean vocals, but with typical Death Metal drumming... somehow the structure works. "Axiom" is still aggressive, and gets heavier as it goes on. Until about 2:40, which contains a few seconds of a sound you have to listen to to believe.
"The Promise" is a low point, despite its interesting composition.

"My Apterous Angel" builds slowly, gaining momentum, but slacks off again until it's within the fourth minute, and then it drills you with its progressive heaviness.
"Distant Fires Reflect the Eyes of Satan" and "Man Without Faith Or Trust" are pretty cool, but hardly the best songs here.

"The Dark Inside" is one of the best songs here, it just blew me away with what Akercocke can do. Even though it's over six and a half minutes, it seems short.
The final metal song, "Footsteps Resound In An Empty Chapel" is good. Quite powerful.
"Epode" reminds me a bit of "Lex Talionis" from their previous album, as it's a slow sort of closer with only clean vocals. However, "Lex Talionis" had some extraneous elements that detracted slightly from the listening experience. "Epode" is unexpected, but good and worth a listen.

"Antichrist" has a majestic sort of power that flows at you with all the power of Evil behind it. Akercocke have reached the point where they know how to mix slow & fast parts, and while their progressive edge isn't quite on the same level of Opeth, it's high. Within the top five prog-metal bands at any rate.


Favorite tracks: "Summon The Antichrist" and "The Dark Inside"

Least favorites: "Black Messiah," "The Promise," and "Distant Fires Reflect the Eyes of Satan"