Acheron - Anti-God, Anti-Christ +Bonus is a classic album of true cult satanic Black/Death Metal! Released on Misanthropic spirit!!
All music by Vincent Crowley.
Intro spoken words taken from Friedrich Nietzsche's "The Antichrist", selected by Vincent Crowley.
It seems that Acheron learned the lesson from "Rites of the Black Mass" and decided to make a record that is far more competent, but still, not without it's flaws. Like "Rites", half of the total number of tracks are composed of intros which, this time not as annoying, they are still extremely cheesy. Not that I have something against the fight between mankind and christianity, but you can do better for the overall effect. For instance, the intro before "Total War". Listen to the keys. Yikes.
Now, the good stuff. The first four songs (not counting the intros) are prime examples of atmospheric death metal. The guitar player finaly learned to equalize the rhythm guitar tone properly and it actually crushes instead of being wind-like. The keyboard parts are well made, too, and it serves for a haunting effect much like those on Nocturnus' "The Key". Again, the lead guitar work is top notch, with some really nice shredding without going down into excessive wanking, instead the use of nice melodies and fast, but coherent patterns make the songs even more interesting. The songs themselves follow a minimalistic approach at songwriting, with repetitive riffing, well complemented by the other instruments and specially the vocals, which carry the songs effectively. Lyrics may be a bit simple, but is the vocal delivery that counts, and it works well.
The exception to this is the final track "Total War". It's drum oriented, with a VERY repetitive marching pattern played by the snare, and some keys thrown for the ambience touch. Just filler material, IMO, therefore not recommended like the other tracks. It has it's moment, though, near the end when the vocals stop being silly and gain some strenght to them, for the final declaration.
Yep. Acheron learned the lesson. It isn't flawless, but, hey, it kills "Rites of the Black Mass", the record guilty of giving me a sour initial impression of this band. I'll be definitely checking some of their other shit. Highlighted songs: "Fuck the Ways of Christ", "Shemhamforash", "Blessed by Damnation", "Baptism for Devlyn Alexandra".
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
