AKERCOCKE „Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone”

Music: Black/Death Metal
Country: England
Website: http://www.akercocke.com
Duration: 55


Cool Songs: Dying In The Sun, Verdelet, Lex Talonis, Words That Go Unspoken, Shelter from the Sands.

British black metallers Akercocke have never made a great impression on me. Their ‘black metal in suits’ image was something a little different, I admit, but as far as their musical dexterity was concerned, by the time 2001’s Goat Of Mendes came along, I just wasn’t all that convinced. 2003’s ‘Choronzon’ was an improvement no question, but still there seemed to be something missing. Originality maybe? With album number four, the awkwardly titled ‘Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone’ I was hoping for a little more exploration and possibly a move away from their incessant blasting and standard black metal/death metal template.

Recorded at the band's own Goat of Mendes studios in West London and mixed by Neil Kernon (Nevermore/Cannibal Corpse etc), the most striking aspect about ‘Words..’ is its variation and willingness to invoke a more harmonic side to their music. And while the death metal blasting and uber black extremity is still very much a part of their sound, there is a decidedly more atmospheric end to their song writing.
Everything is way more dramatic and progressive than ever before.

In terms of creativity in death/black metal, Akercocke are possibly one of the better bands of the moment, offering up a sound and song writing style that moves far beyond from the standard fare of the scene. In this sense, the developmental progress that ‘Words..’ has captured reminds me a lot of the movements ‘Enslaved’ made with their ‘Monumension’ disc. ‘Akercocke don’t quite hit the cosmic heights of their Norwegian peers, but the similarity is there.

‘Words…’ is also the first album to feature the provocative guitar work of former ‘The Berzerker’ axeman Matt Wilcock. Failing to understand his former act, I’m not that familiar with Matt’s previous work, but it is clear that he adds a tad more depth and overall musical muscle to the bands already colossal sound. His lead work in particular, makes a dramatic impression throughout. As does vocalist Jason Mendonca's. Aside from the musical progression that Akercocke has conjured up on this new one, it is the vocal development of Mendonca that is possibly the most surprising. Whilst still offering the standard genre death grunt extremity for long time fans, it is pleasing to hear Mendonca employ a cleaner, more harmonic approach that works in time with the bands more animated and collectively dramatic sections. He also throws in some over the top shouted spoken word parts and those obligatory excruciating black metal shrieks that have been a staple of previous affairs. This, however is his most creative and expressive performance yet.

I don’t think I’ll ever be a major fan of this band. However, with tracks like opening ‘Verdelet’ and the simply awesome ‘Eyes of the Dawn’ (where the band hit some truly Nile-esque atmospheric heights) among many other strong tracks, I’m certain to revisit this album more that their previous affairs. The Kernon production is a major plus – capturing a massive wall of riffs, the intricate prog elements and the underlying bottom end that drives the whole thing home. ‘Words…’ stands as ‘Akercocke’s most accomplished effort yet – it’s a progression of style without being too clever and arty, a great example of a band willing to move beyond standard fare whist being true to its roots. It gets better with every listen.

note: 8.2

Tracklist

Verdelet
Seduced
Shelter From The Sands
Eyes of Dawn
Dying In The Sun
Words That Go Unspoken(part 1)
Intractable (Words That Go Unspoken part 2)
Seraphs And Silence
The Penance
Lex Talonis