Arising Empire
01/08/25
Words by Kris Peters
The only thing I know about German metalcore outfit ACCVSED is their name is hard to pronounce and the single they sent me, Killer Of Minds, was sensational, so what better way to get acquainted than to spend some time with each other courtesy of the band’s debut album Dealers Of Doom?
Kicking off with Day Of The Locust, the first sound to shatter the tranquillity is a tasty as fuck bass run that almost throws me off guard. It’s not every day an album is given life courtesy of some funky bass, but that’s exactly how ACCVSED choose to introduce Dealers Of Doom, and that alone has won me over. No need to listen to any more, this album fucken bangs!
Vocalist Tino Mehlig starts angry as fuck and his bandmates make no attempt to calm him down, laying the platform for a ferocious beast of a track complete with breakdowns and even harsher harsh vocals which combine to dedicate a massive fuck you to anyone who thought a debut album was supposed to be relatively safe. Even the clean vocals – normally the point where I go from thinking fuck yeah to meh – contain enough in the way of defiance to suggest salvation is far from near.
Next up is the title track, which doesn’t let up in any way, shape or form. If Day Of The Locust was the loving first date, then Dealers Of Doom is the divorce track that curtails any hope of a happy ever after.
Off timing and tempo passages of guitar gel nicely with the sonic carnage swirling from all corners of my stereo as Mehlig barks and scraps his way through the track, kept mildly in check by chugging guitars from Valentin Noack and Daniel Georgievski that menace continually until left reeling by sudden pauses that allow only a little air to enter your lungs before resuming hostilities.
Make no mistake ladies and metalheads, this is a war. And submission is not an option.
Don’t Let Me Fall Apart lists a Narrator in the credits, but maybe they do things differently in Germany because fucked if I can hear anyone filling me in on why shit got so messy so quickly.
This song leans much more to the metalcore side of ACCVSED’s musical psyche, but rather than alternate between lovesick teenager and angry barbarian as most bands do, the vocal disparages are more in your face and form an uneasy union more so a coming together of emotions. It’s hard to explain, but the sense of contempt displayed to anything and everything by ACCVSED through their music allows no time for pleasantries, even when the lyrics tend to tell a different story.
Total Eclipse Of Self starts with a vibrating spell of electronics which is soon swamped by a chunky as fuck guitar riff and purposeful drumming from Christopher Lerner, who is suddenly attacking his kit as if it dared to answer him back.
The carnage is soon offset by a period of subdued, pleasant restraint, but this lasts all of 10 seconds before Mehlig tires of the niceties and plunges once more into desolation. The breakdowns employed by ACCVSED are often subtle, but still deliberate enough to alter the sonic trajectory of their chosen piece of music, masking, but never hiding, the underlying sense of menace that flows throughout.
This is easily the most accessible song so far on Dealers Of Doom, but there’s still no way you would hear it on mainstream radio.
The song that started this whole love affair, Killer Of Minds, bursts out of the blocks with a rapid outpouring of emotion that is strangely cathartic in nature. In all honesty, I can’t understand fuck all of what Mehlig is singing about, but the tone of his voice says all it needs to in abundance.
A couple of sample-led breakdowns have me flashing back to early Slipknot, but I doubt even the great Corey Taylor had this much baggage on his plate with his debut album.
Avoider flips the script completely, coming to life with complete cleans in the vein of Beartooth. It’s actually quite a shock to the system and carries through for longer than it probably should before Mehlig tires of the status quo and taps back into the angrier side of their music.
This is an interesting track in that musically it is heavy as fuck with a myriad of samples and electronics combining with chunky breakdowns that are constantly soothed over by more clean vocals that, again, don’t make me want to move on to the next track. I guess staying that pissed off would be detrimental to your health, so maybe ACCVSED were advised by their loved ones to ease up momentarily?
Slower, but still a winner…
Make Sure It Hurts even sounds like it’s going to be brutal, but once more ACCVSED throw a curveball with a more tempered opening salvo that this time is bereft of any hint of apathy. Could this be the obligatory heart-warmer? It sure sounds like it, and, unlike others that have walked this path, I’m pretty sure radio would fall in love with this song.
I don’t even know what a Senescene is, but I’m liking the direction it’s taking me. From the moment an urgent bass riff drills the point home, it becomes increasingly obvious that ACCVSED have had all the rest they were ordered and are ready to take us home with a renewed fire in the belly.
The electronics in this song stand out a touch more than others, but they seemingly act as a distraction while ACCVSED allow the anger to swell back inside them before unleashing a barrage of sonic destruction. The cleans are strong in this one, but fall short of becoming whiney to the point of annoyance, as many bands of this genre do.
It must be a fine balancing point when attempting to get the balance and ratio of harsh to clean correct, but already in their relative infancy ACCVSED seem to have found that sweet spot that steers them far more into the realms of defiant petulance than jilted lover.
Never Enough is another to ease out of the starting gate before gathering momentum courtesy of massive drum fills that leave the rest of the band no choice but to follow. Not that it seems ACCVSED need much persuasion. They do their best work when they throw caution to the wind, and Never Enough sees the wind catch just enough of that caution and sends it hurtling back in your face without remorse.
Admittedly, this track does start to get a bit wishy-washy in parts, which is a feature of metalcore embraced by some, but I prefer things a little less on the warm and fuzzy side and much more on the dirtier, grimy side of the fence. Which is the side you spend the majority of your time on through this album, so don’t think I am complaining. It’s merely an observation…
The album comes to a close with Obsidian, which hurtles forward on the back of a quick high hat call to arms from Lerner, which draws the troops to one final battle before retreating to savour in their newfound glory.
ACCVSED show quite a deft hand with the contrasting shades of light wedged haphazardly through the dark, but for Obsidian they seem intent on leaving us with a shower of fire rather than a drizzle of rain. This song is actually a little different with the music being more subdued while the vocals relay the attitude, which at first seems ass about face but quickly becomes part of the furniture as ACCVSED make a hasty path to the sanctity of their studio and leave you feeling drained but content.
Damn fine effort for a first full-length album, and something tells me that ACCVSED are going to be a band on many more lips the further they cycle into the wonderful world that is music.
