French death rattle shakers Akiavel conjure up past true crime tales so graphic and violent only the growls, blast beats and guttural riffs of death metal could handle their savage brutality. Specializing in the ultra dark and twisted, on new album Vae Victis we get POV from both the killer and the victims depending on tune bringing serial sprees from both sides of the Atlantic to the realm of fine French death metal.
Akiavel pry through the minds of the most depraved, deranged, sociopathic psychopaths and those that are just hungry for something that walk on two legs.
Dark subject matter aside, they punish the speakers, pulverizing ears using death as the albums key concept. It’s music to be felt post-mortem, underground in the grave. Perhaps some of the victims will finally have their voices and stories heard in decibels.
Coming together in 2018, with Chris on guitar, Jay on bass and Butch on drums, they quickly jelled into their self-titled EP followed by 2020’s full length V (The letter, not the numeral). Not letting the pandemic slow them down, they’ve cranked out number two Vae Victis.
A love of modern death metal is brought to the slab table along with a healthy respect for the classic Florida forefathers of the ‘80s and ‘90s.
They blazed a trail early at 2019’s Hellfest and Metal Help Fest 2. With Metal Injection giving V some early love naming it the Best Underground Metal Album of 2020.
There’s nothing nice or petty about Akiavel, besides the voice that runs the joint. Though beauty may have never sounded so dark, evil or alluring as vocalist Auré’s deep, shredder pipes make lyrics about the dark actions of serial killers sound LSD-like hypnotic. Sounding like a demon may be the best way to convey the stories told.
The new album’s a growled, heavy story-telling tome of bloodlust actions and graphic, unspeakable acts performed by human hands. Not all (household) names are used but it does seem like Auré has an eye for the more brutal and depraved of the bunch.
All 10 songs are about one killer or another, “We have this kind of link, all will be different. They’ve shot several videos for different songs. “You’ll be able to watch in June in the U.S. It’s a very dark video,” Butch says.
Auré explains her dark inspirations, “I watched a lot of stories about serial killers. Each song reveals a different killer and is about fear, vices, childhood, etc. They’re also kind of a tribute to the victims of these monsters.”
Most are from the killers POV. “The killers are described as what’s going on in their brains and what drives them to do these things,” Auré explains.
The album starts with “Frozen Beauties” about the Russian mother and daughter Pagan cannibal killer’s Ivanova and Olga Tamarin, responsible for nearly 30 murders, drawing victims into their cabin, slaughtering and eating them. Just the thing loud death metal guitars were made to play. “These women were sick.” Auré says.
The video definitely gives off a horror-like witchy vibe with Auré haunting the woods, stalking, black-robed and growling. She could be Tarja’s death metal evil twin. The demented duo lures a victim to their home and his unsuspecting violent fate. It was shot in January in Southern France, where they’re from. “There was a bit of snow but sunny.” The video was directed and acted by close friends. “The actors were neighbors, friends and fans.” Butch says. It was a very DIY production.
Another true crime tune with a historical hovering dark cloud is “Pentagram Tattoo,” an account of the sadistic rampage of Richard Ramirez. “He was committing crimes in the name of Satan,” Aure says. Netflix just released a web series chronicling his murder spree including his stay at the Cecil Hotel. She acknowledges there’s a certain fascination trying to understand the motivation and methodology of doing what they do getting inside their heads.
“The Lady of Death“ is one of the few tracks with clean vocals. “It was a lady of death”, Auré jokes. “It’s a friend, the wife of our director,” Butch says.
There’s also a planned shoot for the song “Medium” which will be complicated and very involved they say.
Many are surprised by the power and fury of her growls. Though it comes natural for her, clean vocals are something she hasn’t tried yet. “I want to learn but it’s not really something I want to do now.”
She was influenced by some of the earliest and best growlers in Florida, “I started with Cannibal Corpse. I love the voice of Chris Barnes. I listen to the old death bands, all the death metal bands.”
They were, in a sense, thrown to the wolves in 2019, performing at Hellfest, still a very new band. “We had no album at the time,” Butch remembers. “It was a surprise to be invited to play there. It was really good. We were asked to play first.”
They say Hellfest was a nerve wracking trial by fire but they had friends to tour with. “One of the only times we played live was a festival in France. Almost no one had seen us,” Butch recalls.
As a band they haven’t played the U.S. or outside Europe yet though guitarist Chris, has played in Japan.
The states are a definite goal soon, “We hope so,” Butch says. “We never had the opportunity to play there.” Though, they’ve been able to reach sporadic fans across the U.S. thanks to social media and networking.
They recorded their first album V in 2020. “We had a tour scheduled but everything was cancelled from March. That’s why we’re directly releasing our new album.”
The lyrics were inspired by Canadian therapist Eduardo Duran about the five wounds of the soul. “We did three videos. We had this character at the beginning, used by Auré as a slave then she escapes.” She’s shown running like someone’s chasing her with flashbacks of her wounded and bleeding in a well-like room. The first video “Kind of Requiem”, you realize that it’s not a real slave or victim.
The trilogy continued with “My Lazy Doll” showing the victim running frantically around the underground area, escaping to the surface. “The Witness” ends the story with the band seemingly tormenting her with amusement. “The victim is herself and everything was in her brain.”
They do dark very well and it shows. Auré plays the part of mysterious enchanting mistress well in promo shots sporting in mourning black or in spirit shrouded shadow.
While the guys hit the strings and drums, she wields the pen and paper, without internet access or desire for modern tools. They insist she’s not good around technology having a weird effect on modern instruments.
Auré really IS old-school in her lyrical approach. “I don’t have a computer. I’m a witch. I don’t touch modern things. Nope, it’s not for me. I have a phone, that’s ok.” Every time she tries to do something online, she breaks the internet. So, a pen and paper work best for her.
Regarding new material, “What’s coming regarding new songs and videos will be a surprise,” she says with Butch adding, “We need to discuss it.” She does say lyrically it’ll be very interesting with possible paths in many directions.
While new French dates in the fall have been added, they would love to share stages with Cannibal Corpse, Testament and Obituary someday. They don’t have specific plans, but would love to tour with bands they appreciate. “We’ll see what we’re proposed.”
They’re ready to bring the growl anywhere. “America might be our first choice if we have a choice,” Butch says. “It’s the number one country where we have some fans. It’ll be a priority along with the rest of Europe. France doesn’t have a big market for metal but Europe is vast and a lot to do there.”
You’ll have to read lyrics and listen hard on Vae Victis to figure out what other deviants were picked by her pen, though the ultra sickening deeds of Edmund Kemper are present.
After recording Butch discovered as a kid he’d lived near the killer in one of the albums deep tracks, with the house still standing.
All in all they’ve written and recorded some of the best bedtime stories to tell your deserving little spoiled brat before bed.
It would seem that Charles Manson would’ve been an easy subject but Auré makes a good, easily forgotten point. “He’s not really a killer. He commanded others to kill.”
They say you ‘might’ be able to watch them soon live, remotely in the U.S. as they have new music to release in June and another video shoot in July. “It should be a crazy video. We try to come up with the best quality content for our audience,” Butch says,
To promote the record they’ve already done a live Q & A and streaming event along with radio events on Gimme Metal with rebroadcast. Considering the album cover, time’s ticking to get in on a good reaping.
