Akercocke is out of the cage! The reunited satanic extreme metallers’ UK tour is underway at last, with the mighty The King is Blind in support. It’s easily the must-see gig of the year. I can’t wait to see them next week and, because I’m taking EvaOverload along, I decided to put together a beginner’s guide to the Ak on Spotify for her. And now I’ve decided to share it with you. Praise Beelzebub!
Although Spotify playlists have no limits I decided to keep my selection within a CD running time, coming in at 69mins. Akercocke’s debut album The Rape of the Bastard Nazarene is unavailable on Spotify so, sadly, I couldn’t include any of those early tracks. But the upside to that was that it made things a bit easier: even though I was only left with four studio albums to pick from, it was still a pretty tricky endeavour. Some crucial tracks like Horns of Baphomet, Praise the Name of Satan, My Apterous Angel and Seduced couldn’t make the grade. And the often lengthy nature of their songs made it tricky to stick within the time limit too.
So calling this the Best of Akercocke is a little bit of a stretch but I reckon it’s a great introduction for newbies. Even those normally reluctant to dive into such extreme waters will find much to enjoy here. There are flaying shredders like Of Menstrual Blood and Semen and Becoming the Adversary but there is also plenty of melody in tracks like A Skin for Dancing In and Axiom. The epic, proggy side of Ak is given an airing in the classic Leviathan and the sublime Shelter From the Sand (Rush fans should check that one out). The Dark Inside and Son of the Morning show off the band’s euphoric stylistic range, the power of the riff compels you in Verdelet and Enraptured By Evil is just a flat-out battering. It’s all brilliant, essential stuff.
Here’s the track listing for those without Spotify. Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think. You’ll be wearing a suit and summoning the Antichrist before you know it. And if you become a convert there’s still time to catch the band on their UK tour. Tell them HMO sent you.
- Of Mentrual Blood and Semen
- A Skin for Dancing In (from The Goat of Mendes)
- Leviathan
- Enraptured By Evil
- Son of the Morning
- Becoming the Adversary (from Choronzon)
- Verdelet
- Shelter from the Sand
- The Penance (from Words That Go Unspoken)
- Axiom
- The Dark Inside (from Antichrist)
All Hail Satan!! Or sumthin like that! …
Glad your pumped dude! Concert Report perhaps?
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Not sure actually… thinking about it. I just want to go and have a good time so don’t see myself taking notes or anything! Never take photos at gigs either. So maybe just a wee post about it from memory when I get back.
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Sure man ….when the Cult/keifer were here back in July that was one of the first time i ever took pics. It can be a total nusiance for sure! Back in 2012 when I went to see Maiden someone asked me if i took pics. I said why bother the youtube uploads will be posted by others….
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I always try to take a couple of pics at the show, these days – for the blog! They never turn out that well, but whatever. 😉 Agreed, though, you wanna just enjoy the show and have fun.
I have tried video, but the sound just pummels the little mic on a phone. I have a video of Gojira playing L’enfant Sauvage and, well, the video is decent! 😉
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Fair enough. Each to their own. I do like seeing photos and vids! But I’m to busy drinking and looking sexy as all hell to take any myself.
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True, but looking sexy as hell just comes naturally, so both of your hands should still be free…
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Hahaha OK you’ve caught me out. I’m too busy taking selfies to bother filming bands!
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Attaboy, pretty man! Hahaha
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I’ve got my pout down!
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Hahaha hey guys! I just tried imagining our infernal HMO doing a duckface selfie and I think it broke my brain!
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I might break the Internet haha
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Maybe that’s been your infernal plan all along?
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I’ll get there eventually!
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Actually i lied the first ever selfie i took was with Aarons Sidekick Chris Murphy from Sloan! HA! I told him to bear with me as I never do selfies..hahaha. He was real chill about it!
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Haha gaun yersel’ Deke! Friend to the stars!
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HAHAHAHA…..er ok! HAHAHA
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Chris is an awesome dude.
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Totally, why add to the sea of phones? I’m sure my photies would just turn out shite anyway! You got any gigs on the horizon?
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I still snap a couple of shite photies anyway, but the phone is mostly in my pocket for the gig!
No tickets in hand right now. James is the king of going to shows, for sure! But I’ve told Brother Wilf that when Metallica tours for this new record, We. Are. Going. 🙂
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Have your seen Metallica before? I’ve never seen them! Shock admission! Maybe even an… OVERSIGHT!
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Nope, never seen them either. The opportunity has come around many times, but something always comes up – work, school night, lack of money, and I never get to the gig. Yup, I’ve been missing them in concert since high school! It’s practically a ritual, at this point…
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Well, hopefully you’ll get a chance soon. I’m sure they’ll be touring the shit out their new one.
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And same to you, we should be twinsies and both go see them for the first times ever on this tour.
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I’m not sure that much sexy is allowed into arenas.
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We’ll sneak in. And then WHAMMO!
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What? You pair of numpties! Never seen them? I don’t like big shows and I’ve seen them twice – great both times btw too.
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Dunno, never really fancied seeing them to be honest.
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Rob Trujilo (I guessed the spelling) is worth the ticket price just by himself.
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I’ll buy a ticket then… but the rest of them will have to stay offstage so I can get my money’s worth. Will Rob be in the round?
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I’m waiting for the Rob 3-D film, which is just two hours of him in 3-D, playing his bass and making faces.
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And to think they sunk all those millions into “Lars IMAX” instead of that… What were they thinking?
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Numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties numpties..
I love that word.
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No nothing is coming around these parts….kinda blah right now for live shows. If u look at a map Tbay is in the middle of nowhere …some bands use it as a Gas STOP….make some dough and move on….thats why all my shows are basically out of town reviews but The Cult and that rock bill that day was a bonus!
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That Cult show did look great. I’m pretty choosy about gigs these days. Quite like ones where there’s travel involved… makes it more of an event!
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Oh for sure …if u can do it ..Go For It…
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I hear Cloud Bay is where its at.
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I always preferred Summer Bay.
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I always love recommendations from folks in the know. Thanks for this!
And have fun at the show!
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Thanks A! Can’t wait! I was actually thinking about your comments about screaming/growling when I wrote this. These guys do it like they mean it and there’s loads of vocal variety.
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Sold. I’ll give ’em a whirl!
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Yas! A playlist!
Hope you enjoy the gig, fella.
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Thanks J! Get involved!
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Man. That playlist has helped wake me up!
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It’s good for the morning commute too!
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When I say “that playlist has helped me wake up” what I meant was “I just hit play and I’m now well and truly awake”.
I have to hold my hands up and say I didn’t last more than two tracks. That was a bit too heavy for me. Just a bit. Y’know, like, a bit.
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Haha better than coffee, this stuff! (I need both though)
Their earlier stuff is heavier so, if you want an “in”, start at the end and work back… it is still all pretty heavy though to be honest. Not necessarily for everybody!
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Minstrel Blood & Snowmen? Bloody hell.
Umm, I know nothing of this but I do quite like boobs. Does that help?
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It does! They have boobs and bums throughout their album artwork. Big wans anaw!
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I certainly shall not be wearing a suit! But a turtleneck? Absolutely. Winter is coming!
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I love that the drummer is rocking The Prisoner look too.
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Great get. Missed that on first glance. Who is Number 2?!
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The guy in the turtleneck probably! He looks like a Number 2 kinda guy. But… who is Number 1?!
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HAHAH I see it now! He’s bang on for McGoohan!
Did I ever tell you that it was the Prisoner that got me into the Beatles for the first time?
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No, don’t think so. It didn’t convert me I’m afraid…
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That’s fine I realize not everybody likes the Beatles. I just think it’s cool that for me, A led to B!
As for Akercocke, what does the name mean?
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Yeah it is an interesting fact! Didn’t know that was how you got into them. I do like how they used that track in the series too, it’s insane. I kinda wish I could like The Beatles… some songs are OK but a lot of it just does nothing for me.
Akercocke came from Robert Nye’s version of Faust. It was the name of a talking Capuchin monkey that was a character in it. It’s a weird name but it’s quite different, it stands out!
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ALL MEN PLAY ON 10
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Never gonna turn down again!
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There’s a great line from Zoolander where Derek tells Billy Zane, “you’ve gotta tame the beast before you let it out of its cage”
It doesn’t sound like Akercocke was tamed at all prior to cage exit!
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Yeah I don’t think so. I think there’s still a high chance of them biting children.
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Spotify here I come! I’m most intrigued to hear the gentle love story implied in the title of the first song on your list.
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It’s not a Dokken cover, in case you’re wondering… Hope you enjoy!
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Definitely Mr. Scary though!
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Haha yes!
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I saw them at Bloodstock and liked them. I would go see them again for sure but they’ve already come and gone from my neck of the woods.
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That’s cool you go to see them though. I’ve watched the Bloodstock set on YouTube a couple of times now… it was a great set. The excitement is building!
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