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Acheron: The Final Conflict (Last Days of God)

Vincent Crowley, the sole remaining original member of Acheron has been on a 20+ year mission to defile Christianity and spew his never ending reverence for all things Satanic. On their newest offering, which is billed as a concept piece, he has expanded his hateful message to spin a tale of the downfall of the three major (light) religions; Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

First, the good…there is some exceptional guitar work on this disc. When they decide to let the music go and the six stringers get the chance to flex their stuff, it really is quite a good example of what can be done within the confines of death metal. These flashes are way to few and far between though. What remains is an album that could have been their first offering, or their second, even their third or fourth. I think you get the idea. There is not much difference in delivery from what they were doing 20 years ago. That is except for the guitar work which is the only thing I found interesting on the disc at all.

The first thing you hear on the disc is an air raid siren. This overused sound effect sets the tone for a disc that does show brief flashes of promise but just as quickly returns to the overly long and redundant formula that really shows why this band could never get to the next level. It exemplifies their genuine lack of creativity and relies on controversial content to try to sell albums.

The other thing that is really bothersome is the murky recording itself. I found that almost as annoying as what they were recording. At times it is crisp and clear but then it becomes a fuzzy sonic mess. At least it was done on a CD-R so I might find a use for it later.

Track listing:

1. The Apocalypse
2. Rise Of Rebellion
3. Blood Oath (Pactum Tacitum)
4. I Am Heathen
5. Godless (We Are Gods!)
6. Salvation Through Hatred
7. Power And Might
8. Millennium's End
9. A New Age
10. Anno Armageddon

Added: January 5th 2010
Reviewer: Scott Ward
Score:
Related Link: Band's Myspace Page
Hits: 2123
Language: english

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Acheron: The Final Conflict (Last Days of God)
Posted by Ryan Sparks, SoT Staff Writer on 2010-01-05 18:50:45
My Score:

You have to hand it to American death / black metal outfit Acheron because they've been at it, or should I say 'he' (as in Vincent Crowley, the only sole original member left) has been at it since the late 80's and yet they still remain an underground "C" list band at best.

Long after former members have either packed it in or gone on to bigger and better things, bassist / vocalist Crowley has continued to forge ahead with his anti-Christianity and pro satanic message and in that regard nothing has changed on the bands latest effort entitled The Final Conflict (Last Days of God) .Rounded out by the twin guitar assault of Max Otworth and Art Taylor along with drummer Kyle Severn, The Final Conflict doesn't comes across as a throwback to the old school days of 80's death metal in that it sounds exactly what the band has been doing for the past twenty years, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

Crowley's snarling vocals and venomous lyrical diatribes are the perfect match for Otworth and Taylor's relentless riffage on tracks like "Blood Oath", "I Am Heathen" and the slamming brutality of "Power and Might". While the production quality of this recording definitely isn't perfect I enjoyed this lo-fi mix primarily because the guitars are cranked to the max, so the duo's excellent six string work is in your face at all times. I found the overall drum sound to be a bit dry as well.

The ten songs here do have a certain interchangeable feeling to them, although the band does change things up a bit with the closing instrumental "Anno Armageddon". Let's be honest The Final Conflict isn't revolutionary stuff, but I wouldn't call it waste of time either. It's the searing all-round guitar work that really saves this disc in the end from being relegated into the ranks of total obscurity. If you're at all familiar with what Acheron have been doing these past twenty years, then this disc shouldn't hold any real surprises for you. That being said, I think it's high time the band kicked things up a notch and took their game to the next level.



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