Akercocke

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Akercocke is an English progressive blackened death metal band from London, England. They take their name from a talking monkey in Robert Nye's interpretation of the Faust-legend, and are notable for their heavily Satanic and sexual lyrical content.

Biography

Akercocke was formed in 1997 by guitarist/sound programmer Jason Mendonca (ex-Salem Orchid and Disciples of Belial) and his one-time Salem Orchid colleague drummer David Gray. The band was soon completed by the addition of second guitarist Paul Scanlan (ex-Creaming Jesus) and bassist Peter Theobalds.

Akercocke's first album, Rape of the Bastard Nazarene, was self-released by the band in 1999. The album was met with enough success to get Akercocke signed to the underground metal label Peaceville Records. Their debut release for the new company was 2001's The Goat of Mendes, previously released on the band's own Goat of Mendes label. 2003 saw the release of Choronzon, on Earache Records.The band embarked on an exhaustive tour of the US to promote the album and promptly sacked guitarist Paul Scanlan upon their return. He was replaced by Matt Wilcock, formerly of Australian metal band The Berzerker.

Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone was released in Britain and Europe in October 2005, and in the United States in February 2006, on Earache Records. To promote the album, Akercocke went on tour with Mortician and Blood Red Throne through Europe. Prior to this, they had played four shows in Britain to promote the new album, supported by fellow British death metallers Ted Maul. On 18 January 2007, Peter Theobalds left the band, citing personal differences. He was replaced by Peter Benjamin of the band Corpsing.

Akercocke released their fifth album, Antichrist, in May 2007, their last album on the Earache label, as they were only contracted to them for three albums. A video has been released for the song "Axiom", directed by Erica Herbert of HSI London, and deemed "a unique and beautiful visual outing" by Jason Mendonca.^[1]

The band’s Antichrist album release was allegedly met with controversy from Christian groups, mostly notably in America, where a printing plant was alleged to have refused to print the album’s inlay booklet, because they refuse to print "satanic materials," according to an Earache Records representative. Jason Mendonca commented that he didn’t find the booklet "overtly anti-Christian" despite the title "Antichrist" and their refusal to print it was "really ugly. And it smacks of fascism to me."^[2]

The band also generated controversy in Northern Ireland when they scheduled a tour date in Belfast on 18 May 2007 and also appeared on BBC1’s debate show Nolan Live on 16 May 2007, to defend their right to play the gig.^[3] On that show they came under fire from Christian groups who alleged they were spreading a dangerous message to Northern Ireland’s youth.

On 4 August 2007, the band played a special 10th Anniversary Concert at the Underworld in London, which was supposedly filmed for a live DVD^[4] titled A Decade of Devil Worship and was set to be released alongside a new, as yet untitled, album in 2010.^[5] However, no new material surfaced in 2010. With the exception of a show in France in April 2011, As of 2012 there have been no further updates regarding the planned releases and the official website is now down, evidently on sale for £200, making the band's future plans unclear.

Matt Wilcock amicably left the band in 2010, citing musical differences. He continues to play in new project The Antichrist Imperium, which also features David Gray, who is also currently playing as fill-in live drummer with My Dying Bride.

Members

Current members

• Jason Mendonca – vocals, guitar
• David Gray – drums
• Peter Benjamin – bass guitar
• Daniel Knight – guitar
• Sam Loynes – Live Keyboards

Former members

• Paul Scanlan – guitar (1997–2003)
• "The Ritz" – keyboards (2003–2006)
• Peter Theobalds – bass guitar (1997–2007)
• Matt Wilcock – guitar (2004–2010)

Discography

• Rape of the Bastard Nazarene (1999)
• The Goat of Mendes (2001)
• Choronzon (2003)
• Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone (2005)
• Antichrist (2007)

Videography

• "The Goat"
• "Horns of Baphomet"
• "Infernal Rites"
• "Leviathan"
• "Axiom"

A video for "Intractable" was filmed in August 2006 but later abandoned during post-production. It was filmed in strip club in London's Soho district. The documentary film "Words that go unspoken, deeds that go undone" is available on a special edition CD/DVD format of the same album.

References

External links

• Akercocke on Myspace
• Akercocke at Musicmight
• Akercocke on Allmusic.com