Artist: The Meads Of Asphodel
Album: The Murder Of Jesus The Jew
Type: Album
Label: Candlelight Records
Yes you read that album title correctly as did Candlelight Records, seeing it and the lyrics of the already finished album prior to signing the band. They may well have blanched but took The Meads on board despite controversial content and the fact that the band do not, and will not play live and tour said disc. As Metatron told me in a recent interview, they are well aware that with song titles like ‘Jew Killer’ this album is not going to be selling large amounts in places like Germany. Let me put something in perspective before you get the wrong idea. This is not a work that is peddling NS ideologies in the slightest, it is a project that has been several years in the making and has been thoroughly and painstakingly researched. The premise here is that Jesus did exist as a mortal man, historical texts prove this. He was also Jewish and he was murdered, there is no beating around the bush here, burning or otherwise. The album is actually very pro-Jewish rather than anti and it is on release being backed up by a 60,000 word codex written by Metatron, which has also been years in the writing giving in depth explanations to each song and their corresponding lyrics. This will be made available on the bands website, link below.
Moving on from this it is probably best to get into the music which being composed by The Meads and an assortment of varied guests is as barking as ever. If you are an outsider who has never heard the band before, well where do I begin? They are a law unto themselves, although often classed as black metal you could only describe them as such fleetingly. Metatron’s gruff and uncouth vocal approach is as much punk as anything. You have connections to Hawkwind and their errant psychedelia courtesy of bass player Alan Davey as well as mad keyboard waltzes which you cannot help but recognise being the work of Mirai from Sigh. Of course one should not overlook the huge contribution of James Tate who wrote much of the musical side of things as well as drummer Urakbaramel.
Setting up the narrative around Mirai’s keyboard we are eased in before the pummelling ‘My Psychotic Sand Deity’ slaps you round the face and throws sand in your eyes. This is aggro punk, with schizophrenic tendencies perhaps highlighting the madness of religion in it’s action packed musical context. There is lots of melody, a trumpet is parping away not quite knocking down the walls of Jericho but making its presence felt. Harmonious keyboards weave in and the gentle vocals of Eibon Illumini’s Christina Poupoutsi are all in the mix. After such an enraged start we are really floating through a dreamy prog landscape now. There is so much going on, a proper description of each and every song would need a reviewing codex of its own. ‘Addicted To God’ is about those who are fundamentally flawed into believing about something in the hope of salvation at the end of life. I love the way it drops some blues sounding Doors etched keyboards at the half way mark and goes into over the top cabaret with the vocals of Will Barnyard, it is definitely the wtf moment of the album. There is a big rant at Judas on ‘The Man From Kerioth,’ he is called a cunt and a Catholic bastard. He was also very much a ‘Jew Killer’ explaining the title of that particular song. Having Hoest from Taake provide backing vocals was a ballsy move on this one but one and there is irony at play here. The crucifixion is played out on ‘Genesis Of Death’ complete with dramatic sound effects. A cry of “I am not the son of God” does no doubt make any Monty Python fan snigger though and I found that a bit distracting from the serious subject matter.
It’s rather difficult to sum up an album of this scope in a reasonable form without going overboard on the word count. Something in fact that The Meads themselves cheekily seem to know all about, check out that last song title. You can approach this album in two ways and enjoy the music on it simplistically or go the whole hog and immerse yourself in the historical side, the religious debate and of course read that Codex. This is a bold album and one that many would expect being the sort of thing that few would attempt and those doing so would only tackle as a final legacy at the end of their career. This is not the case for this band however and The Meads are very likely to take on the subject of The Holocaust next. Well that is if any higher powers don’t have the last laugh and extinguish us off the face of planet earth in the meantime.
http://www.themeadsofasphodel.com
http://www.myspace.com/theofficialthemeadsofasphodel
