Autokrator is one of those bands whose music I think of as the soundtrack to world-ending calamity. The almost unmitigated savagery and destructive power of this French duo’s death/black/industrial assaults are overpowering, even though their music also exerts a powerful primal appeal — you can become easily intoxicated by their brand of blown-out violence. And so it was more than a little frightening to read the comment by guitarist/bassist Loïc Fontaine that the song we would be premiering today is “probably the most brutal song Autokrator has ever composed and played”.

This song, “DCLXVI“, appears on Autokrator‘s forthcoming fourth album, Persecution, which is set for a November 5 release by Kruyator Productions. As has been true of previous albums, this one again takes historical episodes as its theme. Here, they recount the persecution of Christians during the ancient Roman Empire — under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius, Diocletian, Domitian, and Trajan.

They make clear that “the record has nothing to do with glorifying the barbarity; it rather conjures up the cruel and dreadful sufferings of the victims — be it decapitation, execution, lapidation, damnatio ad bestias, dislocation, imprisonment, or banishment”. That is a harrowing mission, and the music Autokrator has created is equal to the task. Continue reading »

The first two Autokrator albums — the self-titled debut in 2015, and The Obeisance To Authority in 2016 — were senses-shattering experiences. On my own senses, the first album (reviewed here, with an interview) probably had a more stupefying impact, because I didn’t know what was about to hit me. For the second one, I had the good sense to wear body armor and flame-resistant head-gear before listening; but it wasn’t enough. It blew right through me like a howling hurricane.

I’m speaking in a figurative sense, of course, but only barely. The almost unmitigated savagery and destructive power of Autokrator’s death/industrial assaults are overpowering. But the music also exerts a powerful primal appeal; you can become easily intoxicated by this brand of violence. And so, with steeled nerves but with a trembling mix of fear and excitement, I confront the fact that Autokrator are about to unleash hell again.

The band’s new album is Hammer of the Heretics. It will be released on April 10 by Krucyator Productions. It consists of five tracks, including one mind-scarring interlude, and today we present the album-opener, a piece called “Against Flesh and Blood“. Continue reading »