Akercocke - Antichrist (2007)

I enjoyed Akercocke's return in 2017 with Renaissance in Extremis quite a lot, and I have raved with their side project The Antichrist Imperium (and especially their latest album Volume III: Satan in His Original Glory) more than most albums of the current decade, it's that awesome. Looking at the works of these guys for the last 25 years, one may think they are the most evil satanists on the planet. 

Yet, at the time of release of Antichrist, the band was shortly featured on BBC after it caught the attention of conservative Ireland due to an upcoming live show there, which you can watch here. Apart from the sound delay that damages communication between the musicians and the panel, which just adds to the overall situation, the back and forth argumentation is one as old as time. 

In lovely English accent, Akercocke explain that the fans love them and that they never meant to offend, instead they believe in freedom of speech and are against "censorship on any level" with a lot of key words thrown around without considering their magnitude.

I'd rather not talk too much about the specific album itself, this is incredibly forward thinking, unique and well delivered death metal that is instantly recognizable, and in my book this is the only band that has treated clean vocals fairly. They wouldn't top Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone from 2005 but no one can, yet Antichrist's quality shines.

More importantly, their stance in that video is simply disappointing, and so banal that it makes me wonder if these guys actually comprehend aspects they talk about, or is it all just teenage wondering angst without any actual maturity.

Akercocke clearly seeks to offend with edgy titles and lyrics, and playing dumb when Christian communities are offended by their material. You're turning your back on your work when you play the neutrality card, avoiding to stand by your own statements by adopting the safest, most superficial approach possible. Everything they said in that video is textbook pseudo-intellect.

Here is a snippet of another interview they did (available in full):

We also wanted to reflect the lyrical content in the imagery, hence a lot of the rather attractive young ladies that featured heavily in the Robert Nye version of Faust from where the band name came... and let's be honest, the ever-present sexism that is implicit in most heavy metal! Sex sells. So, we used it to sell. We weren't as sexy as the girls, haha!

Some other responses there also paint the picture of, well, essentially what being a poser actually looks like.

Man, these dudes may be even worse than Behemoth in that topic. Once you dare to take a step towards this anti-religious, blasphemous content, learn to support it when someone puts you in the spotlight. Or else, don't do it at all. Spooky covers, titles and lyrics don't scare anyone here.

Once again relevant:

Dripping - Disintegration of Thought Patterns (2002)

On their official website, Internal Bleeding claim they invented the term "slam" as a subcategory of death metal as early as 1993. That's quite some time before the arguably first pure slamming brutal death metal album was released, which is Devourment's debut Molesting the Decapitated in 1999. 

Voracious Contempt by Internal Bleeding had been released four years prior to that and definitely had some elements, yet it was with the latter that this whole idea got the popularity that it has. Of course, there was the Psychopathic Embryotomy demo by Afterbirth in 1994 (who have since reformed for the last ten years and are now doing fine things), the first Dehumanized albums, Pyrexia's influential Sermon of Mockery already out in 1993 as well as the Japanese Vomit Remnants, all active around the same time in the mid / late 90's.

If you're thinking this is just caveman, mindless death metal, like the younger brother of the family who's evidently a bit behind, you're right. That's most of slam brutal death today, and almost was like that from the beginning, by no means at the same level as full on old school death, or brutal death of the 00's. 

Right at that time, a really particular band made its appearance, and nobody noticed. As Cadaverment, they were active from 1999 - 2000 and then put out a mini-release as Dripping in 2001, named The Lost Archives of Channeling Expeditions Through the Cosmos EP, with a clear concept about space and science fiction. Already things are quite unusual.

The EP was quite noisy and pretty crazy in content, as tempos change constantly in dusty sound that's hard to follow and there's numerous sound usage selections that will make you, wonder. Diary of an ancient astronaut? Skydiving out of the hemisphere? The second track "Interlude of Astrophysics" has some rap beats in there, and the whole thing sounds like madness. Dripping were tripping.

In 2002, we get served the debut (full title: Disintegration of Thought Patterns During a Synthetic Mind Traveling Bliss), which is a continuation of the smashed EP from the previous year, but they have by now completely let go of any sort of reason. Elements of slam brutal death are in the forefront, but the record is so unpredictable and experimental, that this lightning in a bottle case feels surreal that such innovation can fit in such a dull sub-subgenre.

Every time you listen to this, something new comes up. Gargantuan grooves, battered electronic passages, brutally filthy production, hip hop to slam and back within seconds, unheard of signatures, preludes with acoustic guitars at the levels of Dissection, sudden piano / female opera singing, all maniacally glued together in what's either a random mess, or a masterpiece. I go with the latter.

Dripping's Disintegration of Thought Patterns is one of the most unique pieces of extreme metal I have ever heard, one that makes you change the way you see the genres it touches. Much like Sigh's early works or the EP / full length of Infester, the initial listen is an once in a lifetime experience. How was it when you first listened to Intellect Made Us Blind?

It seems the band is active since last year. Could that mean they're recording new stuff or is it just to play gigs around? After Brodequin's return earlier in the year, hidden hellspawns from the past decades come back with a vengeance. One at a time.

Vanhelgd - Atropos Doctrina

 

"After six long years, Vanhelgd has finally installed a successor to 2018’s monumental Deimos Sanktuarium on the notorious Svensk Dödsmetall throne. But as the saying goes, good things are worth waiting for, and as the Fates would have it, the Swedes’ sixth opus Atropos Doctrina might just be the best of the bunch.

 

“Six years of pandemic, crisis and war have passed since we last announced the impending doom of mankind. Much and nothing has changed. Tragedy, ecstasy and doom are still our perpetual companions and the age of man is indefatigable crawling towards the end of its path. The moirai spun and measured your thread of life and now it’s in the hand of Atropos the Inflexible One…”

 

Atropos Doctrina was recorded under the watchful eye of Marduk’s Magnus “Devo” Andersson at Norrköping’s Endarker Studios, and the odds are you won’t hear a heavier production for a good wee while. Backed by ice-cold performances and precision from the band, Atropos Doctrina might just be the biggest sounding album of 2024 to date. 

 

Despite its Latin title, all lyrics on the record are in the band’s mother tongue, marking an end to their Anglo-Swedish lyrical approach. 

 

An indifference to trends and scene sentiments persists as Vanhelgd’s trump card. And after 17 years the band remains just as uncompromising as ever, honing their unique blend of atmospheric death and black metal to perfection. Recorded, mixed and mastered in Endarker Studios by Magnus "Devo" Andersson.

 

Cover art by Mattias Frisk"

 

Listen to

Atropos Doctrina