Untitled 7" demo

This little record is the greatest metal/hardcore hybrid ever. Ever. Ten minutes of blissful noise that plays like the soundtrack to the apocalypse itself. I challenge anyone to find a more intense record than this from 1994 (and yes, I'm aware of the obvious black metal classics released that year). In all honesty, I might even prefer this seven-inch to "In the Nightside Eclipse". If, for some reason, I was placed in a bizarre hypothetical scenario where I could only choose one record from 1994, I would choose this one.

This untitled (i.e., self-titled) seven-inch follows the "Menschenmaschine" demo from one year prior. No-one I know has ever heard that demo, nor uploaded it anywhere. The Acme story therefore begins here. I cannot praise this seven-inch highly enough. The greatest hardcore record of the nineties? Damn right. This seven-inch is better than "Downsided", better than "Protestant", better than "Firestorm", better than "Monuments to Thieves", etc. The intensity of this record has never been matched. To top it all, this was made by unprepossessing German kids. Acme not only perfected the idea of 'metallic hardcore', they blew it into the mesosphere.

Having said that, Acme are far more than a metallic hardcore band. They are impossible to classify in genre terms. No genre can do them justice. I've spent years scouring distros and websites looking for similar bands. I found some good stuff in the process, but nothing that has ever matched this. Are Acme a metalcore band? No. They are far too extreme and unpalatable. Are they grindcore? No. Acme have none of that genre's traits other than extremity, and they spend much more time in the mid-pace range. Are they sludge? No way! They are far too explosive. Are they death metal? Hmm, not really. They sometimes resemble death metal but their ideas clearly come from a different place. Are they crust, power-violence, screamo, or any other obscure sub-genre? Nope. This sounds nothing like Amebix or Infest, and they would eat bands like Orchid for breakfast. The description I'll settle for is 'extreme metal-influenced hardcore' with roots in Rorschach and Slayer, but transcending both.

The record opens with an iconic speech from "Full Metal Jacket", a catalyst for the hellish cauldron that follows. The four songs follow in quick succession. All are incredible. Acme understands that music can be epic without being long, much like Verdi's "Dies Irae" for instance. The songs bleed into one another to create a 'wall of noise' effect. Acme never sounds like four individuals. They create a world of their own, the instruments blend together into a state of serene violence, teetering on the edge of chaos but never falling. Listen beyond the noise, and you'll hear riffs that Mayhem and Emperor would have killed for. The final riff of "Attempt" uses the same shrill, tremolo-picked chords that Euronymous and Snorre were using, but in a completely different context. The secret behind Acme's greatness was constant motion. Gregor Iwanoff's drumming had incredible kinetic energy. Apparently he is a serious cross-fit cyclist nowadays and you can hear his physical dedication on this record (videos of the band exist, where you can see it first-hand).

The production is amazing. Kuschelrock Studios and the near-legendary 'Dirk' gave Acme the perfect, gritty, crystalline sound that preserves their natural intensity. It is more of a hardcore production than a metal one, thankfully. Many other bands from the Bremen area (and beyond) would visit Kuschelrock over the years, attempting to recreate the Acme sound. Many of those bands and records sounded great, but none were quite as good as this. Since then, Acme's understated, enigmatic influence on the extreme metal world has grown and grown. This seven-inch left a deep impression on the European hardcore scene at the time. Two years later, an American label (Edison) released the band's eight-song discography to an unsuspecting audience in the US. Any young hardcore band trying to flirt with metal would have been given a thousand-Watt jolt by this record. I can imagine legions of hardcore kids shitting themselves with fear and wondering how the hell they could compete with this. Spoiler: none of them ever did.