We had it coming. We've had it coming for years. The question was simply a matter of when deliverance would grace us. Finally, it's unleashed. And it's about damn time.
It may be confusing for some of you that this will have naught to do with the Angus Young, wonder-from-down-under multi-platinum rock band, as if ACxDC played with AC/DC, the former's awesome heaviness would probably rip the poor Aussies' heads off.
ACxDC have been around the block. For awhile. I'm talking since 2003. Well, okay, there was that five year break from 2005-2010 but really, who's counting? The spirit of the band never really faded. And with over ten years on the cutting board they've never actually put out a full length. Participated in compilations, split EPs and demos? Oh, hell yeah. But finally the band is unleashing their first proper full-length entitled Antichrist Demoncore, which is also what their AC DC bits stand for. The band is perhaps most noted for their EPs He Had It Coming (2005) and Second Coming (2012), via the amazing To Live a Lie Records. However, with Antichrist Demoncore ACxDC showcase not a break from their patented Satanic powerviolence, but rather a delve into their first album that clocks in over twelve-minutes. And sadly, does not feature a song about The Big Lebowski.
Eleven years is a long time to wait for a full-length but whatever, enough about that. As far as I'm concerned they penned this when they were damn ready and not a moment sooner. Antichrist Demoncore is exactly what you'd expected out of ACxDC. Blazing, maddening, thrashing, and disjointed.
Where the band succeeds most is in their ability to blend. Hardcore/punk and powerviolence bleed throughout the album's twenty-minute run. The opener “Destroy Create” is the perfect sample of what you're getting yourself into. Shrill and deep vocals laced with stampeding drums and violently distorted guitars give us a proper introduction. But the band isn't built on pure speed. The first song showcases a dip into sludgy bits. The pieces weld together excellently.
What makes the album great is that it doesn't feel predictable. ACxDC kick everything they have around while maintaining a sense of danger. Songs don't progress the way one might expect them to. Pieces with sporadically blast or slow down, but generally not focus on one instrumental idea for too long. Tracks like the excellent “Endless Failure” (one of the album's longest offerings at almost two-minutes) are old school hardcore/punk until kicking into more metallic parts. The album's finale “Give Up” keeps a similar attitude with a mostly instrumental. But, like a dagger in the cloak, goes in for the kill in the last few seconds.
Even tracks that feel more straightforward have a good layering element to them. “Blood” clocks in at under a minute but still shoves in riff changes without feeling like its trying to be Dillinger Escape Plan. “Overstimulated” is similar in structure, pushing blasts and straight up hardcore/punk.
We had it coming and we had it coming hard. Like a rapture, no one except the band knew when we were going to get this. Antichrist Demoncore is a viscous assault and welcome addition to the ACxDC library. It hits hard and keeps up the pace without sounding watered down or like it's focused on being as fast and abrasive as possible. The album move so fast and songs are so short that they tend to blur but that's to be expected with this genre. The more you listen, the easier it becomes to differentiate. Fans of band like Weekend Nachos or Sex Prisoner should take note. Antichrist Demoncore is a blasting, hardcore/punk, powerviolence fueled adrenaline rush of skull crushing greatness.
9/10
ACxDC's "Endless Failure" is streaming at Noisey.
Twitter: @CoffeeCupReview
