Up next on the Chopping Block is a band that I’ve been quite curious about over the last few years. They are one of those bands that I had heard about and seen footage of them when the program Uranium covered them at the New England Metal And Hardcore Festival back in 2005. They are a British extreme metal band called Akercocke and aside from that very interesting name, I decided to put them on the Chopping Block so let’s take a look……
Rape Of The Bastard Nazarene- OK so aside from that really awesome record title, this album combines two styles of music that normally don’t go together that being death, metal and the other being synth heavy post-punk. I don’t think I’ve ever really heard Cure inspired music with blast beats and it’s a very interesting, very dark record. If you’re looking for something new and different, definitely give this album a listen and I’m giving it 9.5/10.
Standouts: Declaration/Hell, Marguerite & Gretchen, Zulieka
The Goat Of Mendes- for an album that came out in 2001, it has a very raw sound. I’m not sure if that was done by design or what but this is one of those albums where parts of it kind of make your skin crawl in a good sort of way. Of course you also have just the straightforward death metal and which makes this album that much more badass. I’m giving it 9/10.
Standouts: Of Menstrual Blood And Semen, He Is Risen, Ceremony Of Nine Angles
Choronzon- this is what I would call a slow burn album. It’s definitely a death metal album, but not in the sense of your standard death metal band. For one thing the vocals are not as harsh and there are almost some spoken word moments. Like the last two albums it’s dark it’s evil sounding and moments will get under your skin. I’m giving this album 10/10.
Standouts: Valley Of The Crucified, Leviathan, Becoming The Adversary
Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone- I feel like this album has a good balance of slower, more crushing songs and faster straight up death metal songs. You can tell they’re trying to branch out a little bit and speed things up, but not so much that they don’t stay true to their roots. I like how vocalist Jason Mendonça goes from clean vocals to harsh vocals pretty easily and the album as a whole is a great follow up. It’s definitely their most prog sounding album yet and unlike most other prog albums the songs do not drag. I’ll give this album 8/10.
Standouts: Intractable, Seduced, The Penance
Antichrist- I feel like this is probably their most accessible album meaning if you were to start with any of their albums, I might start here to kind of ease yourself into their music. I’m looking at the history of this album, there was actually quite a bit of controversy surrounding the albums release. The controversy was obviously the album title and the imagery surrounding it. You had a lot of really pissed off Christian activists and it went as far as having members of the band go for what they thought would be a debate on censorship and free speech. It turned out that it was just them heading off criticism about the album. I’m always a big fan of when bands like this really piss off Christians because it just goes to show that this sort of music can have that effect on people. But as far as the album goes, it’s a great record. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but what it does do is continue where the last album left off. Fun fact, this would be their last album for 10 years. I’m giving this album 9.5/10.
Standouts: Man Without Faith Or Trust, Summon The Antichrist, Epode
Renaissance In Extremis- so how does a band sound after being away for 10 years? Well, this is one of those albums where the band sounds refreshed and re-energized. It has more of the traditional death metal elements, however, there are traces of their roots mixed in. Much like the last record I would say this is also a pretty accessible record. If you’re gonna start with this band, I would start with this one or the last one. This one isn’t as dark as other albums have been, but it is a damn fine record. I’ll give this 9/10.
Standouts: Unbound By Sin, Familiar Ghosts, A Final Glance Back Before Departing
Decades Of Devil Worship- this is a live album, plain and simple. For those of us that have not had a chance to see this band. This is probably the closest that you’re going to get and it’s a great sounding live record. There’s really not much more to say about this other than the band sounds great and they sound like they are full of energy. I’ll give this 9/10.
Standouts: Nadja, The Horns Of Baphomet, A Skin For Dancing In
I think what I like most about this band aside from how bad ass they sound is that they combine different genres of music that shouldn’t go together. I don’t think I ever would’ve thought to combine post-punk with death metal but this band makes it work. As far as their subject matter goes it’s pretty much all about Satan and sex and I mean who doesn’t enjoy that? Now of course the name. What does Akercocke mean?? After a quick search, I found out that the name refers to a capuchin monkey from Robert Nye’s version of the Faust mythos, where it is described as a familiar given to Faust by Satan himself. So if you’re a fan of bands like Opeth or any other progressive metal band then you’ll really like this. If you’re a fan of death metal you’re really going to like this. Hopefully they will put out a new album soon as well as a US tour but for now it doesn’t seem like anything is really happening.
Final Grade: A+
Album Rankings:
- Choronzon
- Antichrist
- Rape Of The Bastard Nazarene
- Renaissance In Extremis
- Goat Of Mendes
- Decades Of Devil Worship
- Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone
Sinister Reviews 