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ACOD – Fourth Reign over Opacities and Beyond

acod – fourth reign over opacities and beyond

Info

The French band ACOD was formed in 2006, but as years progressed the line-up of the band was reduced to just the duo of original members Fred on vocals and Jérome on bass and guitars. That is not the only thing that changed, as the band started out more or less as a Thrash Metal unit, but over time started adding more Death and Black Metal to their sound. In particular since 2017, when the band first emerged as duo and Jérome took over songwriting, the band has been setting forth on a path of atmospheric Black and Death Metal that resulted in their 2018 album ‘The Divine Triumph’. Four years later the band is ready to present ‘Fourth Reign over Opacities and Beyond’, the band’s fifth full-length and first on their new label Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions.

The album opener ‘Sur d’anciens Chemins’ kicks off with an orchestral opener reminiscent in atmosphere of for instance Cradle of Filth’s late 90’s work, but while ACOD’s music is indeed symphonic and does harbour a lot of Black Metal, it doesn’t really sound much like the British legends. Although to be fair, in ‘Artes Obscurae’ there are these backing female vocals that harken back to something like ‘Cruelty and the Beast’. Instead, the music of ACOD is a little bit of a Black Metal version of Swedish melodic Death Metal bands. And in particular, the band has quite some overlap with Dark Tranquillity in atmosphere, but with a much stronger emphasis on the heaviness. In particular a track like ‘The Prophecy of Agony’ has that same sort of feeling and catchiness in the lyrics and melodies as aforementioned Swedes. The sound of the album is enriched by a thick bass sound, which allows to reveal an added layer of creativity to the music, and overall the modern production is very well-balanced between the heavy guitar sound, symphonic keys, rhythmic section and vocals. These vocals vary from grunts to screams, but never stray to the trademark clean vocals of Dark Tranquillity Mikael Stanne. And because ACOD only overlaps in atmosphere and mostly stays clear of the calmer parts, the band has quite a fresh sound. The more chugging sound of the previous albums is not completely gone and appears in a song like ‘Sulfur Winds Ritual’, but that also develops into what you could call a song that’s typical for this most recent sound of ACOD.

To be honest, ‘Fourth Reign over Opacities and Beyond’ is a more than a pleasant surprise. I’ve always enjoyed the sound of Dark Tranquillity, and ACOD has managed to use a bit of that essence but poured it into more of a modern sounding atmospheric Black and Death Metal mould. Compared to the previous albums, it feels as if they’ve really hit a point where their music is at its best and it sounds fresh and something to call their own. I would certainly recommend giving this album a listen.