Akercocke — Antichrist
Where some of their early work had a tendency to be over blown or too stuck in one place from one track to another, here the tracks really keep you on your toes. Brutal death metal track will suddenly jump into synth fed dark pop moments, or acoustic guitars will be backed by blast beat drumming – there’s a really sense of adventure here, your not quite sure what they throw into the mix next, but it’s done in a way that the songs feel like real songs instead of ideas thrown together, it’s neatly and cleverly tied together. It brought to mind the same inventive sprit that Sepultura showed on Chaos AD, where any genre was game, but it still had to weave neatly and cleverly into the metal heart of the material. The tracks are also cut fairly short and snappy so the ideas are kept in balance, never becoming overblown or overindulgent- the song fabric is cut just right to give the ultimate effect and been atmospheric, brutal, inventive and memorable.
I guess the most surprising element here is the clear singing that’s always been present but here has taken on dark psychedelic pop edges, which is present in the instrumental pallet too, with throbbing synths, dark pop folk, ethnic edges, and funk bass traces. But these element never take away from the brutal or atmospheric air, they enhance and improve the tracks- giving more depth and character. There’s really no low points here, every track working well on there own and to build a dark metal masterwork. Oh and the last track sung by new bass player Peter Benjamin, is a touching and sinister fully blown ballad to the horned one- with Peter really singing his heart out.
For me this is the pinnacle of their work thus far and one of the great experimental metal records, that I’ve found I’ve returned to again and again. Dark, clever and inventive much like Satan him self really - with Antichrist they have made pure audio black magic.