ACHERON - Lex Talionis LP (White Vinyl)

Lex Talionis features Mike Browning on the drums, fresh from Nocturnus and the betrayal of his former bandmates. Mike has always seemed a really down-to-earth guy to me and I really dig so much music he helped create, so it is very hard for me to not like the guy. He has also always been very cordial in my email correspondence with him, as well. This is an element of this album (as well as Satanic Victory/Hail Victory) that appeals to me quite a bit, as Acheron's mastermind, Vincent Crowley, was also an original member of Nocturnus and this album even includes a song that appeared on the first Nocturnus demo, "The Entity". From what I have gotten from interviews with Mike, a good portion of this album was composed of old songs, possibly early Nocturnus stuff that never got recorded.

Unlike Rites of the Black Mass, Lex Talionis is not a concept album. Each song is a self-contained thing, while still managing to create some sense of cohesion with the other songs. The intro tracks add a little mood and most of them aren't very long. The proper Acheron songs are generally mid-paced or fairly fast, without being insanely fast, with a few being slow. The lead guitar work on this album is rather melodic and somewhat traditional in its approach. This was one of the few recordings featuring guitarist Vincent Breeding, who apparently later affiliated himself with William Pierce (author of The Turner Diaries under the pseudonym Andrew MacDonald) and turned out to be just a general jackass, but this is not something I will hold against the band, as he is his own person and I don't think he presented that sort of ideology during his tenure with the band. His contribution to this album is competent playing (and likely some good riffs), but he doesn't stand out as some amazing, knock-you-on-your-ass player, but then again, few players will.