Sunday, July 12, 2009

Accu§er - Full High-Quality Discography

ACCU§ER are a thrash metal band from Kreuztal, Germany that formed in the early 80's. Despite never being able to land a contract with a major label they continued to release a string of successful underground releases before finally disbanding in the mid-90's. After their demise, guitarist Frank Thoms and René Shultz formed a new band called Scartribe. However, whenever Scartribe performed the fans demanded to hear Accuser material, so in 2002, Frank and René decided to get Accuser back together. The saga continues...
The Conviction (1987) / Experimental Errors EP (1988) Re-released in 1997
This is a 1997 CD reissue of Accu§er's first two albums on one disc. Both discs are outstanding, raw and speedy thrash metal, not unlike fellow German thrashers Kreator, Sodom and Destruction. Being that this is true, I wonder why these guys never reached the plateau of success or don't have the underground following that these bands have. Perhaps it was marketing, or maybe it was the terrible cover art, because it sure isn't the music. Everything is in place, right down to the epic songs, technical song structures, raw vocals and aggressive delivery.
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Who Dominates Who? (1989)
This was the first Accu§er CD I had ever heard. It was al surprise gift from a good friend from overseas who knows my tastes in music and knows I can't resist a good thrash band. Accu§ER play late 80's technical thrash metal with a raw aggressive edge. Their sound is similar in style to what many of the German thrash bands of the times were doing, which is just fine in my opinion as I love this style. I wish there were still bands left that sounded like this: speedy riffs, fast solos, pummeling double bass and aggressive, yet coherent vocals. The mastering on this CD reissue is a bit weak, but that is easily remedied with a crank of the volume knob. This one kept me thrashing for weeks after I received it and had me on an instant search for the rest of Accu§ER's catalogue.
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Double Talk (1991)
Mosh it up baby! What we have here is some fast and furious, technical thrash with serious Bay Area influences. I hear little of the German influence on this disc, as was on some of their past albums. Accuser's "Double Talk" could have been released with the flood of Bay Area thrash that was being released in '91 and they would have been ahead of the pack. Unfortunately they had no U.S. distribution and little in the way of marketing so instead of being leaders, they were relegated to having an underground cult following. Not unlike early Kreator and Destruction, however, Accuser have more aggressive, gritty, shouted thrash metal vocals than do bands like Testament, Exodus, or Forbidden. Lyrically the band comes down hard on the US government in songs like "Double Talk" and "Flag Waver" in which they refer to Americans as "hypocrites" and the American government as "the war machine," which explains the cover art a bit. They also cover topics such as the killing of animals for such ridiculous things as beauty products ("Sadistic Terror), being a slave to money ("Money (Don't Stink)") and alcoholism ("Alcowhore"). One minor irritant is the mastering on this disc is a bit low. Crank it up and this problem disappears and you are once again moshing in the halls of your home. By the way, I should also mention that this Accu§ER page is being brought to you courtesy of an American fan!
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Repent (1992)
I wasn't sure what to expect on this disc, being that there is such a change in style from the three disc that proceed "Repent" to the ones that follow. However, be assured that "Repent" is fast becoming my favorite disc by Germany's Accu§ER This is just utter annihilation set to a mosh beat. This particular album put Accu§ER aside bands like Believer for technical thrash metal superiority. Every song is just straight forward thrash, with the possible exception of "Metal Machine Music" which adds a bit of an industrial flare. Despite the misleading title and cover art, Accu§ER are not a Christian band. One read through the lyrics and one can see that the band is criticizing the hypocritical and greedy leaders of the church who use Jesus as a means to line their pockets and control people. This particular CD was impossible to find, until a Japanese trader emailed me. Man, the internet is so cool. Anyhow, we hooked each other up. He found me two CDs that I could never seem to find in the US and I found two for him that were very obscure metal titles.
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Reflections (1994)
Reflections is a pulverizing, knee-jerking, neck-snapping, head-banging assault to the ears. Accuser add some new, more modern ideas to their already aggressive thrash sound and come up with a cross between Machine Head and Testament with a Megadeth-like accessibility. This is one of those discs that are dangerous to play in your car because speed limits tend to be forgotten. Accuser are certainly one of the best, albeit one of the most unknown, of the thrash metal genre. Century Media released this disc in America with similar artwork and the exact same track listing and order. As far as I know, this is the only Accu§ER to see release in the US Should also mention that "Reflections" was produced by Alex Perialas who is know for his work with such bands as Testament and Wrathchild America.
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Confusion/Romance EP (1994)
Killer EP featuring two covers, two originals, and two live tracks. "Head Like A Hole" is a Trent Reznor track and one of the best on the disc. "Driver's Seat" is a cool thrash meets acoustic cover of the British band Sniff 'n' the Tears' 1978 song "Driver's Seat". (Who the heck are Sniff 'n' the Tears?) An obscure cover no doubt, and one that took me a while to figure out. The two live tracks sound almost as good as the studio tracks. Both songs are performed tight and are well recorded. Glad to finally get this EP, the last disc to complete my Accu§ER collection.
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Taken By The Throat (1995)
This album is just freaking brutal. Thoughts of Sepultura meets Carcass came to mind as I was thrashing my car speakers the first time I popped this disc in. How this band never made it outside Germany, like fellow thrashers Kreator or Destruction is beyond me. The vocals take on a slightly hardcore yell, as opposed to the more thrash like singing of their earlier albums. The guitar riffs on this album are outstanding and would leave Pantera with jaws dropped to the floor. I'm not 100% sure of this but I think this was the band's last release after close to ten years together. I assume that the band was frustrated by a lack of success after releasing so many stellar albums over the years.
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Originaly uploaded by TAGROTH WITCHLOVER
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Posted by wurm at 7/12/2009 05:33:00 PM