Review Summary: A more confident sophomore effort still not without its flaws, but certainly suggests The Antichrist Imperium as a more engaging band in Britain's extreme metal underground.
Despite the fact that the band was actually formed before Voices and at the same time as Shrines, The Antichrist Imperium never seems to have garnered as much attention as their two peers after Akercocke's surprising hiatus over a decade ago. Yet all three groups featuring former and current members of Akercocke (the term "spin-offs" seems insulting) have always had something different to offer fans in comparison. Voices had the demented aggression, Shrines had the more atmospheric edge but still retained a little bit of menace, and The Antichrist Imperium were arguably the most clear-cut in terms of extremity and Satan worship. As you can probably tell from the title of the band's latest album, that Satan worship is still very much rife though not so much that it invites listeners to take things less seriously.
Vol II: Every Tongue Shall Praise Satan seems further removed from what Akercocke and Voices have done with their respective styles, especially now that both groups have recently released new material. In fact, it seems as if The Antichrist Imperium decided to build on their sonic fury but embrace changes in pace and composition. For example, opener "The Dreadful Hosanna" marks an immediate return to straightforward riff work and a generally clinical instrumental snap, though it's really the vocal work which hints at something more sinister and altogether menacing. Despite it reaching a length of seven minutes, the song fully flows from one musical idea to the next, although there's little experimentation to find when most of the instrumentation is simplistic yet performed with the utmost conviction. You could say the same about "Death Ritual", the shortest song of the album at over five and a half minutes, mainly due to its severe lack of ambient interludes. "Death Ritual" seems cruelly placed however due to its less memorable nature and the fact that it arrives after one of
Vol II...'s best songs. Inevitably, this is what happens when a more progressive, ambitious song is followed by a shorter and openly more accessible extreme metal tune.
Vol.II... embraces experimentation only for brief moments in its first couple of songs but it's really from the thoroughly enjoyable "Draw Down the Moon" (A Beherit reference, perhaps?) where things get impressive. The first half is ultimately more of the extreme metal onslaught heard earlier in the album, but then expectations are smothered in surprise as a neat, isolated piano performance is laid out to mark the song's explosive second half, the seamless transition proving if anything that The Antichrist Imperium know collectively how to pen an interesting piece of music. There's little to no hesitancy here as the band fully embrace changes in pace and lay out ideas with threatening conviction and presence. "Liturgy of the Iconoclast/Blood Sacrifice" may be initally suggested as a two-parter, but the songwriting ideas ensure that, like the aforementioned "Draw Down the Moon", different transitions can flow to and from each other effortlessly. Indeed what we're hearing is the work of a band that have matured and become more confident with their work than on the debut album.
Unfortunately,
Vol.II... presents an acquired taste in some aspects. Firstly, both Sam Loynes' and Sam Bean's respective vocal deliveries can be shaky and hesitant, almost as much as Mendonca's performance in Akercocke's
Renaissance in Extremis. Sam Bean's guttural force on opener "The Dreadful Hosanna" and "Sermon of small Faith" can get a little bland and uninspired, especially when most of the focus is clearly on the accompanying instrumentation. Similarly, Loynes develops a clean vocal pattern which generally soars with real conviction, but only when the performance is isolated and not much is happening in the background. The narrative work taking place at the beginning of "Liturgy of the Iconoclast/Blood Sacrifice" and "Ceremonial Suicide Rites" are both strong examples of this. However, his chords are suggested as a weaker force when shoehorned into more extreme, louder musical territory, as demonstrated during "Golgothian Hieros Gamos". In this instance, the vocal work feels strange and seems out of place as a result. Because of this, even the musicianship in the same song seems less convincing than on more notable highlights, aforementioned in the previous paragraph.
The Antichrist Imperium may well be a hidden gem, but it's still a gem. For those who have been with Akercocke since day one or indeed been invited with interest and pleasure to check out the recent resurgence of the band,
Vol.II: Every Tongue Shall Praise Satan is thoroughly enjoyable material and certainly encapsulates more maturity in terms of songwriting and performance. It's not as ambitious as Voices' more recent offerings, or indeed as intricate as Akercocke's comeback effort, but
Vol.II... will still have you nodding your head in appreciation.
