Band:	Akercocke
Album:	Renaissance In Extremis
Style:	Progressive death metal
Release date:	August 25, 2017
A review by:	nikarg

01. Disappear
02. Unbound By Sin
03. Insentience
04. First To Leave The Funeral
05. Familiar Ghosts
06. A Final Glance Back Before Departing
07. One Chapter Closing For Another To Begin
08. Inner Sanctum
09. A Particularly Cold September

Ten long years after Antichrist, the mighty Akercocke are back. This time they have taken off their suits and the band's renaissance has occurred without sacrificing any goats. Female breasts are also absent and there is no sign of Lucifer worship. But fear not, for their admirable inability to deliver a less-than-extraordinary record is intact.

"It's been too long, too long away", Jason Mendonça sings with overwhelming emotion in "Unbound By Sin", the second song of Renaissance In Extremis, which succeeds "I Disappear" or, in other words, the multiple riffs assault that opens the album. And indeed it has been too long, but it was damn worth the wait. "Insentience" is an outstanding display of inspired song structure and my personal favourite, with sorrowful guitar melodies, ferocious blackened riffs, groovy bass lines, and melodic solos blending into one aural fascination. "Familiar Ghosts" is a day spent on a rock at Land's End in Cornwall, starting with the gentle sounds of acoustic guitars and seagulls flying over the sea waves, when gradually the violins come along with the bass and the drums to forebode the imminent arrival of haunting memories that come in the form of chanting and a virtuoso solo, before a hurricane of screams over aggressive guitar and bass riffs and electronic sounds complete the cathartic experience.

I could go on and analyse every song, but you'd better try yourselves the band's quirky concoction of malicious black/death metal, enchanting gothic interludes and atmospheric passages, carefully placed tempo changes and breaks, dreamy avant-garde and jazzy parts and phenomenal progressive rock melodies.

Above all, Renaissance In Extremis is the intricate and technical offering of four overly talented musicians. Paul Scanlan, is a more than welcome return in guitars, accompanying Jason Mendonça who is also screaming, shouting, shrieking, growling and clean-singing better than he has ever done. Co-founder, David Gray, is the rhythm section master, teaming up flawlessly with sensational newcomer Nathaniel Underwood, whose bass guitar is clearly audible throughout the album. If you are a sucker for bass, just as I am, Renaissance In Extremis is your ideal fix.

Despite the positives, Akercocke's comeback record is their "softest" release to date. While still featuring their familiar brutality and bestial heaviness, the calm, mellow and progressive rock elements appear more frequently here than ever before, especially during the second half of the album and in "A Particularly Cold September", which closes it. I personally prefer their more malevolent and unforgiving side, as well as Jason's harsher vocals, but this is just me trying to nitpick.

The change in aesthetics, mentioned in the introduction, is correspondingly apparent in the lyrics that are now more introspective and intellectual, dealing with themes of loss, pain and despair, but also with personal development, healing and growth. Akercocke are ten years older since the release of Antichrist and their fans are too, so this change was probably inevitable for the former in order to avoid getting characterized as pretentious and will hopefully be positively received by the latter. In any case, Renaissance In Extremis is one of this year's best albums and another glorious addition to the band's impressively creative catalogue.

"Place my hands gently over your ears,
To save you the sound of my scream?"