Antichrist

This album is nothing short of spectacular in how it is set up. It breaks the boundaries of simple black/death metal and pummels your ears with soothing acoustics at times, and electronic based beats and ambient drone sections. The album is best described in a pros/cons method, as I usually like to do.

Cons - The production of most Akercocke albums completely meh-up the guitar tone. Live it is phenomenal but the production values kind of weaken the rhythm tone, the leads have great tone nevertheless.

Another is Jason's, as he puts it, Dog Vocals. I completely enjoy them, but he is even less understandable than Lord Worm (ex-Cryptopsy fame). Anyways, enough of that -

Pros - This album is excellence defined. To start, the guitar work is excellent. Shifting from aggressive chord progressions and chaotic tritone riffing to standard black metal tremolo fare and then calming down into a slow and meandering measure-long power chord break gives this album a fair advantage in being reasonably varied. Another bonus from the guitarwork is, of course, the acoustic sections (Including the intro to My Apterous Angel, though that is just lightly distorted guitar). The production may weaken the tone (as I've said), but the tone is still excellent in it's own muddy, C-tuned glory.

Now, onto the bass. Semi-audible if you're hearing through speakers and blaringly obvious through headphones. Basic follow the guitar work, but occaisionally (like in Promise) making some nice fills.

The drumming, as David Gray most kindly presents, is excitingly great. David truly is a master of the kit, shifting between crazily fast blastbeats (even in clean sections, like in "Axiom"'s verse) and simple stock patterns, throw in some fills, and then go all-out on a double bass pattern that wreaks real havoc. The bass drum is nicely tuned, not overly clicky, but not muddy. Right where the bass drum should be in the mix, as well, moderately loud, but not Cryptopsy loud (what is with all my Cryptopsy references?).

Vocals. Mmm. Jason Mendonca (like Mikael Akerfeldt, Opeth fame) is a very versatile and professional vocalist. His cleans, which are frequent on the album, are nice in their baritone-esque quality, and occaisionally he does a thrash like yell. His screams, when used, are as excellent as on TRotBN and The Goat of Mendes. Now, as I said on the cons, his growls are completely ununderstandable, but I think they fit the music completely in their ferocity. Since we're on vocals, the lyrics are the usual Akercocke fare: Sex, Satanism, and death. Very excellent topics for a business-suited metal band, eh?

Production values, are another positive. I'm all for black metal rawness, but Akercocke's newer style calls for good production. The production may weaken the rhythm guitar tone, but it completely enhances everything else. Whether it be the lead tone, the vocals, or the drumming, it completely enhances them. The acoustics and ambient sections shine through well.

Wait, ambient sections? Yes. As usual per Akercocke album, there are ambient parts, for example Promise and Distant Fires Reflect In The Eyes Of Satan. The first is nothing but an open power chord with strange noise effects and Jason recited lyrics. The latter is a Middle-Eastern styled arrangement, filled with exotic hand-drumming, acoustic play, and exotic feedback in the background. And, acoustic sections? Again, as per Akercocke album, they have various acoustic moments, and an acoustic song to end the album.

The songs themselves were written very well, though my only annoyance is that Summon the Antichrist sounds like it was forced to go on longer. Jason and David wrote excellent material for this album, with no letdowns in ferocity, melancholia, lyrical mastery, and vocal expertise.

Overall, the album is one of Akercocke's best (My favorite being The Rape of the Bastard Nazarene, however), and should be listed as one of their most progressive outings.

Favorite Songs:

Promise
My Apterous Angel
Distant Fires Reflect In The Eyes Of Satan
Footsteps Resound In An Empty Chapel
Epode