I first heard these a couple of years back and was never quite sure what they were about, what sort of genre they fitted into and whether I actually liked them!
A sound that flits around from Black Metal, Death Metal, Progressive Metal and even Ambient music means that they can frustrate many Metal fans who like to pigeonhole bands according to their particular taste but this is the reason why I am getting into them more and more.
The Metal scene is so saturated with bands that sound exactly the same and have no self identity that I rarely hear bands that do anything for me anymore. I have been listening to Metal for 25 years now and all of the many so called intense bands are no more different to what I was listening to way back when.
There have been some exceptions with bands like Dog Fashion Disco, Hacride, Gojira and Post Metal bands like Maudlin of the Well who at least attempt to have their own sound and personality. This is where Ackercocke come in. They always wear suit and ties. They have keyboards. They can switch from intense BPM sections to ambient effortlessly and still maintain a structural framework for their songs.
I originally heard their Words That Go Unspoken.. album a couple of years back and loved it but was sure that it was an album by a band that were expanding their sound from the restrictions of Death/Black Metal but I happened to find an earlier album of theirs in a charity shop for the huge sum of £1 and obviously bought it and was pleasantly surprised to hear that it is their sound most of the time.
Despite being a Metal fan you could put 100 new bands in front of me and you would be lucky if I found 10% of them worth another listen but Ackercocke are one of them and I have found a band that intrigues more with each listen.