Antichrist

I didn’t think it was possible but Akercocke have actually ALMOST trumped Words that Go Unspoken, Deeds that Go Undone. Notice I said almost because the latter is one of the best albums I've heard in the last five years. Not to say that Antichrist isn’t fantastic, it's just hard to perfect perfection. Easily one of my most anticipated albums for this year, this little gem will satisfy prog and death metal fans alike.

The album opens with "Black Messiah" an odd but overall useless track and is followed by the blistering "Summon the Antichrist". This song is death metal done right. The vocals forceful, the riffs are searing, and David Gray (metal's greatest living drummer, mind you) easily reaches 300 bpm without a hint of slowing down.

The next song "Axiom" is a little more mellow (just a little) with acoustic guitars but it keeps the drums "extreme" without making it sound out of place. Mr. Mendonca shows off his vocal abilities with soothing (and sometimes absolutely haunting) clean vocals accompanied by death vocals so deep they probably could probably reach hell itself.

These two songs are probably sum up what you can expect from the rest of the album. And this is absolutely fine. But noticeable experimentation runs rampant through the album as well. The best examples are "Distant Fires Reflect the Eyes of Satan" which is almost tribal, and the middle part of "The Dark Inside" which I swear is an out take from an unreleased Rush album. The last song "Epode" is also a little something different and is almost like "Lex Talionis" from the last album. Overall it’s a nice closing track, even if Mendonca's vocals are a little over dramatic.

All in all this album is almost perfect. All the instruments come together nicely. The riffs are fantastic, the drumming is amazing, and even though the sorely missed Mr. Theobalds is absent, Mr. Benjamin gives good contributions (including lyrics). If you like death metal, get this album. If you don't, get this album. You'll love it. Trust me.

As a final note I was lucky enough to obtain the super deluxe version with the cover songs "Chapel of Ghouls" and "Leprosy" from Morbid Angel and Death, respectively. As if you didn't have reason enough to get this, these two songs only sweeten the deal and come highly recommended.