Antichrist

Let me begin by saying that if I were to make a list of the best five metal bands I've discovered since the year 2000, Akercocke would definitely appear on it. It is becoming increasingly rare to find music unlike anything you've heard before, but this is exactly what happened to me with their previous release, ‘Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone’. The abrupt arrangements, versatile vocals and overall intensity were something I could barely handle, and the album did take a while for me to fully appreciate it.

And it's all there again. The guitars are every bit as technical and unpredictable, the vocal work as varied, the drumming as good, the lyrics as provocative. The thing I enjoy most in their music is, if anything, more prominent than before; I love it when insanely heavy riffing suddenly changes to an out-of-nowhere clean part, guitar solo – or another, totally different insanely heavy riff. I particularly like the funk-ish lead break in ‘Axiom’ and the alternative-esque clean verses in ‘The Dark Inside’ – they are so surprising at first that it’s almost ridiculous, but only almost. In some strange way Akercocke manage to make every part work. Nothing ever sounds out of place.

A few words are in order on the main two characters here, Mendonca and Gray. David Gray is still not the most innovative or accurate drummer in the world, but he certainly does his best. The occasions where he attempts to exceed his ability are, luckily, few and far between, and therefore easy to overlook. Easy to not notice at all, actually, since the drums are very low in the mix. As a lyricist mr. Gray continues to deliver quality verse, this time perhaps slightly more open to interpretation than before. Never a bad thing.

Why Jason Mendonca insists on undermining his skill as a guitarist is beyond me. His leads are, well, terrible, but the rhythm work is breathtakingly precise, as always. As a vocalist he could be better, though. While his clean voice is airy and emotional enough and the high screams get the job done as well, I really don’t like his low growl. Unlike many others, he focuses neither on rhythm nor pronunciation, making the voice blurred and muddy, and quite impossible to keep track of. How he ever manages to do that AND play his guitar at the same time live remains a mystery.

So far, I’ve praised the album. What is it, then, that makes it a disappointment in my book? For me, musical evolution is a value in itself. On ‘Antichrist’, Akercocke fail to evolve in any way beyond that of meaningless detail. Starting with ‘Choronzon’, they have now released essentially the same album three times in a row; leaving productional issues aside, one might suggest an even higher number. The offense is still forgivable given the top-notch quality of their music, but I sincerely hope they can renew their sound a bit in the future.