ALBUM REVIEW: Decades Of Devil Worship – Akercocke

AKERCOCKE, at the time of writing, formed nearly 26 years ago, in 1997. At this point in their career, they are practically an extreme metal institution, with the five albums the band released between 1999 and 2007 proving to be some of the most consistently impactful work to be put out by any band. In August 2007, not long after the band had released their celebrated fifth album Antichrist, they played their Decades Of Devil Worship show at the legendary Camden Underworld, with their setlist consisting solely of material from their first two albums, 1999’s The Rape Of The Bastard Nazarene and 2001’s The Goat Of Mendes, to celebrate their tenth anniversary, recording the gig with the intention of releasing it as a live album. Almost 16 years after that gig took place, that live album has finally come to fruition, and it’s been well worth the lengthy wait.

Very early on in the set, the songs come thick and fast, with the bombastic atmospherics of Conjuration quickly giving way to the aggressive fare of Hell and Nadja, two tracks that showcase the band’s ferocious blackened death metal core whilst possessing touches of their more progressive musical leanings. Whether it’s the jarring guitar work of Hell or the abrupt time changes and intricate musicianship of Nadja, the tracks do a great job of providing a belligerent start, to the obvious approval of their audience. The Goat provides a haunting segue that leads seamlessly into an early fan favourite, Marguerite & Gretchen, perhaps one of the earliest examples of the full blown progressive style of extreme metal that the band would become famous for, with jarring tempo changes, virtuosic song-writing and sonorous vocals in amongst the punishing blackened death. This song translates well to a live setting, without any of the subtler elements being lost in the mix, sounding incredibly tight and angular throughout.

Zuleika, a magnificently muscular and powerful offering, is performed with an intensity and finesse that only a finely tuned live act can manage, breathing new life into one of AKERCOCKE‘s many hidden gems. Il Giardino Di Monte Oliveto Maggiore is another fantastic blend of extremity and borderline avant-garde hooks which sounds absolutely monolithic, with the precision adding a crispness and polish to it that the album version, with its murkier production, didn’t quite manage to achieve. Justine, a crushing whirlwind of dizzying riffs, bestial vocals and machine gun drumming, really accentuates how fantastic AKERCOCKE had become as a live act by the mid-00s, once again capturing and amplifying the aggression and experimental touches of the original with ease.

Compared with the shorter, punchier offerings that comprised the The Rape Of The Bastard Nazarene portion of the set, the final five tracks, which all featured on 2001’s The Goat Of Mendes, seem sprawling, reflecting the shift towards a progressive sound that dominated that album. Of Menstrual Blood & Semen, another of AKERCOCKE‘s stone cold classics that still remains somewhat underrated, sounds monstrous, with its razor sharp melodicism, tortured vocals and the monstrous rhythms making this sound like a juggernaut from start to finish. A Skin For Dancing In – another of the band’s more discordant efforts – lurches from bellicose blackened death metal to lighter, reverb-drenched passages, but manages to handle this imaginative piece of music, which covers a lot of ground musically, really well. Most importantly, it captures the song’s dramatic side, doing justice to yet another of the band’s undeniable classics.

The Horns Of Baphomet drags things to a relative crawl in comparison to the aural assault that has preceded it, and again it’s an impressive version of the song that embraces not only its catchier and caustic moments, but also its immersive, near cinematic aspects, shifting the momentum in a different direction. He Is Risen, compared to the last few songs, is a punchy, aggressive slab of blackened death metal with strangled vocals contrasting sharply with the musical intensity, providing a burst of brutality before the album’s final offering Ceremony Of Nine Angles begins. This is an often overlooked song from the band’s earlier work that brings together the over-arching blackened death metal influences with their penchant for progressive hooks and adventurous musicianship. Jason‘s vocals are the focal point around which the rest of the music is built, taking in feral shrieks and booming cleans, with the music similarly using the song’s length in order to incorporate a lot of ideas, making this an incredibly crowded but stunning way to conclude.

Decades Of Devil Worship doesn’t just represent a celebration of the band’s early work, but also a glimpse at how far the band itself had come in eight short years since the release of their debut. The version of AKERCOCKE that took the stage on August 4th 2007 was not only different from the one that recorded this music, but also vastly more experienced, having toured extensively in the intervening years, a fact that is evident when listening to this record. The already impressive music from those albums sounds even leaner, tighter and more visceral, and if nothing else, this performance perfectly displays just how ferocious AKERCOCKE were as a live act at this point in their career. This is not only a great snapshot of the band, but also a great opportunity for fans new and old alike to revisit those early albums and give them some well deserved appreciation.

Rating: 9/10

Decades Of Devil Worship is out now via Peaceville Records.

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