Antichrist

Who wouldn't want to be Akercocke, at least for a day? Just imagine it: dressing and behaving like an 18th century eccentric gentleman, driving a BMW (Beelzebub Minion Wheels, of course), living in a big scary house bequeathed to you by your uncle Algernon, the occultist, and surrounded by luscious women, pentagrams and fine liquor. And spending your free time blasting for Satan. Looks appealing, doesn't it?

The last time I checked, Akercocke still had their regular jobs, but the Hellfire Club aspect of their lives is as strong as ever. Admittedly, on Choronzon and Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone, they had done everything they could possibly do music-wise. In that light, Antichrist is not a big surprise, it's just Akercocke doing what they do — and no one else comes even close. The one thing that was left to improve was the sound — on Choronzon (or the albums before it) it was a compromise, while on Words... it was sharp, for the sake of finally being able to hear all that was going on. All the instruments on Antichrist sound warm, natural and almost intimate in comparison.

It's hard to connect intimacy with "blasting for Satan" on paper, but in reality it works amazingly. On one side you have monstrous, bestial riffs played with frightening precision and unbelievable speed. A combination of death, thrash and black played so fluently and incorporating so many different aspects of playing into long, mind-bending riffs so wild that they seem to want to jump right out of the speakers and knock you off your chair. Just jaw-dropping. But with just a pinch of imagination you're right there, observing Akercocke (named after doctor Faust's monkey if you didn't know by now) in a luxurious, antique environment playing in an almost meditative, stubborn, concentrated state of mind as a sign of total discipline in devotion to their Master.

On the other side, there are unexpected and completely mellow parts where Jason Mendonca abandons his undecipherable growls and maniacal screams in favor of a clean singing voice and the acoustic pickup of his Parker guitar with custom inverted crosses on the fretboard (the Devil is in the details, right?). It really doesn't matter if it is slow or brutal because it is all believable. Even if Mendonca's baritone might shake, when singing lines like "Reveal yourself, come to me..." you know he means it.

And then there is blasting. Of every possible kind, including some new ones. Oblivious to trends or rules, David Gray (drummer and also the exquisite lyricist) plays blastbeats during acoustic arpeggios, or two bass drums during brief jazz interludes. Yes, they fit in. And during faster parts... the man is simply possessed. There seems to be no triggering on the snare drum or the toms, but even if there was, the way he switches tempos and hits his kit hither and thither sounds like carpet bombing. No place to hide. Through all that, his style is still clear and present.

The "funny-haired new guitarist with a bad winter wardrobe," (as referred to by Mendonca) Matty Wilcock (well at least his last name fits in), was responsible for some blistering solos, culminating in the solo among the brutally thrashing, gloriously headbanging yet meditative ending of "Distant Fires Reflect in the Eye of Satan," and the latest addition to the band back then, Pete Benjamin, affirmed himself by almost ripping the bowels out of his bass guitar on "Axiom."

So, was Antichrist a standard Akercocke album with just a different sound? Hardly. Although the songs seem to be more compact this time, it would take at least this much space or more to begin to describe everything that went into them. Anyone who has heard Akercocke before will know what to expect, and greedily add Antichrist to his or her collection. And the others... It's just a shame that all the Goths and similar creatures still think bands like Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir have anything to do with the Devil or dark erotica. All you need is to take yourself a bit more seriously. You don't have to drive a BMW. The word "gentleman" signifies a state of mind above all else.