Acursed’s debut LP for Prank Records is a dismal, down-to-business steamroller of Swedish d-beat influenced hardcore punk. The packaging is minimalist — mostly monochrome black, with almost no exceptions; the album design even forfeits the opportunity to present the listener with any song titles! Now that’s pretty minimalist. (Loading the CD into iTunes, for example, presents each track as “Untitled 1,” “Untitled 2,” etc.). For those of you that cannot tolerate minimalism to this degree, take heart: The always-good Prank blog features an entry especially about the songs on this release. But don’t tell your friends; tell them you figured out the songs all on your own and maybe they’ll think you’ve got special hardcore skills they will simply never understand. Your new wave girlfriend might even be impressed.
Anyway, about the most important part of this 15-track LP, the music. Did I mention dismal and minimalist? That would be a start. I hesitate to mention d-beat because there is such a cringe when a band hears some reviewer say they have a d-beat sound — but haven’t we passed that point? Can’t we just admit, like Bastard Sons of Apocalypse thankfully and rightly do, that “d-beat” has simply become a bona fide hardcore subgenre, like crossover thrash, and is nothing to be particularly ashamed of?
I have to agree with Prank’s official sonic reference points: His Hero is Gone, From Ashes Rise, etc. Throw in some Avskum and you have an idea of whether this album will suit your tastes. Don’t buy it if you want a portrait painted of a world rosy and without its problems; this is social realist hardcore and doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to sheer punishing power in ts delivery. There are some minor note guitar flourishings here and there a la Tragedy or Japan’s Muga. But to say that this makes this release “melodic” would be misleading. When I think “melodic” I think NOFX — and this is definitely, absolutely, positively NOT that. It is only slightly “melodic” in the sense people say “melodic” when they mention Tragedy, but even by those standards it is more about sheer brutality than “epic melody,” etc. I consider that a plus; it adds to the release’s appeal.
That is, Acursed’s Tunneln i ljusets slut is not exactly melodic, but it is not atonal, either. It is menacing, angry, dark hardcore through and through, barely stopping to catch its breath save for maybe in the sporadic, but very brief and atypical, guitar solos that add to, rather than detract from, each song’s overall impact. Track 10 on the CD is my fave; if there is a barnstormer on here, it’s that one. The shrieking on that track approaches an early Neurosis Pain of Mind thing — EXCELLENT! Track 14 is a strange acoustic interlude, but don’t fret because it only lasts about 90 seconds. Then it’s back to being pulverized.
All in all, this is a great, well-packaged juggernaut of a hardcore release. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. You can buy it from Relapse here. Or from Prank’s eBay store here.
I haven’t heard much of this yet, but what I have heard is really, really fucking good. Better than the still-underrated Totalitarian Sodomy.
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