Here at Live-Metal.net we get so many bands from Scandinavia
that it’s hard to believe we’ve never had many
British extreme heavy bands. Given the U.K.’s contributions
to heavy music (Sabbath, the N.W.O.B.H.M and, of course, Spinal
Tap), it’s a bit surprising the country doesn’t
produce more heavy bands. After all, the entire U.K. can’t
all be listening to Oasis and Arcade Fire, can they?
The Brits have always had a unique take on music, and in
that vein comes Akercocke (named for the monkey in Goethe’s
Faust), a band that has an unusual twist on death metal. This
isn’t your conventional heavy band. Akercocke looks
like a devil worshipping Mothers of Invention or if Salvador
Dali fronted a heavy metal band. The band busts out many of
the tricks of the death metal trade, but then they add some
wrinkles such as clean vocals and spoken word, like on “The
Promise.” The record itself seems like a concept album,
although I cannot be certain of that. There are lots of oddball
raven crowing sound effects and tempos that are reminiscent
of the technical death metal style of bands like Dying Fetus.
Leading the pack is frontman Jason Mendonca, whose vocal
style can shift dramatically from a death growl to clean vocals
in a nanosecond. Unlike a lot of other death metal frontmen,
Mendonca has some serious range, sort of like Mike Patton
in the way he can sing really well and then let fly with a
demonic scream. Even his screams have some range; he can do
the tortured wail and also the deep belch favored by most
death metal singers.
The band behind him has some technical chops. It’s
not the same old “power chord/double kick drum/blast
beat” style of musicianship. The album includes moody
and atmospheric segues (the brilliantly titled “Distant
Fires Reflect in the Eyes of Satan”), rampaging thrash
jams (“My Apterous Angel”) and progressive epics
(“Axiom”). It all adds up to an intelligent, creative
and, best of all, heavy sound. Brawn is not sacrificed for
brains here. The only songs that don’t really work are
“Man Without Faith or Trust” and “Footsteps
Resound in an Empty Chapel,” which try a little too
hard. The former track is a mistake that is quickly redeemed
by the rampaging, six-minute “The Dark Inside.”
Listening to Antichrist, I couldn’t help but
compare Akercocke to another extreme metal band that I liked
this year, Impious. Both bands surprised me with the skill
and ferocity they played with. I probably liked the Impious
record better, but that’s no knock against Akercocke.
This is a band that proves British heavy metal is not dead,
and when they put their minds to it, they can keep up with
their prolific rivals in Scandinavia. |
