Antichrist

Back with another record, Akercocke are steam rolling their way to success with this hybrid of progressive black and death metal. By now, surely, Akercocke have mastered the techniques to successfully achieve their experimental goals and thus, achieve the perfect recording? Well, not quite. ‘Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone’ was a significant improvement upon the effort before it, ‘Choronzon’. The latter didn’t seem to want to achieve the kind of success that Akercocke could have if they were at the top of their game. It was a lackadaisical effort which highlighted a number of issues which concerned me and several others. ‘Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone’ however, proved that Akercocke were beginning to hit their stride. The transformation from black to hybrid was, at first, difficult, but as time has progressed, the band have evolved into a high octane, adrenaline pumping act. However, this era of Akercocke marks a series of change, once again, but this time it’s far more subtle than one would expect from such an experimentally diverse act.

This effort, ‘Antichrist’ isn’t a drastic change from the previous outing. Somehow, this fact makes this effort appear slightly more disappointing on the surface. However, if you scratch beneath, to reach the core of Akercocke, one will find that those elements that made the previous effort a hit are indeed still recognisable. To me, Akercocke are the British variation of Opeth. Over time, Opeth have evolved in to a band many can adore, although equally despise, and Akercocke have done the same. Of course, both bands create a drastically different sound which are on different sides of the metal spectrum, but the similarities are there. To me, Opeth began with amateur aspirations and weren’t able to achieve the sort of solid musicianship that the vast majority of people have lately come to expect from them. Of course, over time, the band evolved and hit their stride. Much the same can be said for Akercocke who, as time has ticked by, have evolved from a mediocre black metal band with awful vocals, to a significantly improved and highly influential black/death crossover. This is a rather confusing outing from Akercocke. It seems to be a record that draws on subtle feelings, as opposed to an all-out-attack on the senses like the last effort chose to do, this is done through acoustics, clean vocals and a darker production value.

‘Antichrist’ isn’t what I, personally, was expecting. In some ways, it’s a cross bread of two of the previous Akercocke records. It takes elements from ‘Choronzon’ and elements from ‘Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone’ and blends them together in an intriguing mix. The vocals have altered, again, which probably isn’t too surprising. The old style of spoken vocals, mixed with typical Akercocke assaults with harsh vocals are intertwined and make for a rather surprising showcase. Like ‘Choronzon’, the production is dense. It isn’t as light and airy as it was on ‘Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone‘, which disappoints me. Songs like ‘The Promise’, which like olden day songs indicated, serve no real purpose to the outcome of the record. Songs like this seem to be building a basis for the ‘proper’ and more fuller songs to lay back on, songs like ‘Axiom’ with it’s quintessential ‘Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone’ style and ‘My Apterous Angel’, which utilizes bass and the superb clean vocals well. The emotive value of the clean vocals cannot be judged. Jason’s voice has progressively gotten stronger as each record has been recorded. His voice is much more mature, his growls are more controlled and thankfully, much more sparse than originally. Although I do appreciate his talents when it comes to harsh vocals, which do indeed compliment the aggressive sections in percussion, which relies far too heavily on poor sounding double bass and sometimes shallow guitars, his clean vocals are better than anything else he does as proved on songs like 'The Dark Inside'.

To be honest, there are a number of niggling doubts in my mind as to whether Akercocke can build upon the success of ‘Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone’. This record would suggest that they’ve had their moment in the lime light and are ready to call it a day. In my eyes, the next record is a make-or-break effort, and will cement my opinion on this act. Of course, as stated, it isn’t all doom and gloom. There are some sublime moments on this record. Again, the clean vocals are amazing. Jason hasn’t lost any appeal, although other elements may have. The guitar work, on occasions, can be inspiringly beautiful. Songs like ‘Axiom’ and ‘My Apterous Angel’ are, in particular, stand out songs. The song structures are different to other Akercocke records due to the fact that Akercocke have more variation. Although the level of experimentation hasn’t exactly increased to incredible levels, having instead slowed down to the same pace that the previous effort set, the experimentation available on this record is accessible and pivotal to the positive aspects. The guitar work, once again, is special. The textures of the guitars are cleaner, leaving much of the distortion in the past. This allows for much more expression in the bass department, which is what occurs on this record. The bass has and is once again improved. The production is very limiting however, and doesn’t allow for the melodies of the songs, which would be superb if the production was lighter, to flow as easily. I do like this record and it does have some of the better Akercocke songs, but it’s far too mixed and takes influence from an Akercocke era that wasn’t that great to begin with, in my eyes.