Acme (from Bremen, Germany) were among the most influential Hardcore bands of the 1990's. Edison released their album "to reduce the choir to one soloist" in 1996, but the recordings date back to 1993/1994, these nine tracks comprise the entirety of Acme's recorded career (one 7", three compilation tracks, one demo).

Presumably the band take their musical cues from early 90's Hardcore bands such as Born Against and 'Protestant'-era Rorschach, but this is occluded so thoroughly by a dense (funeral) fog of extreme metal, sludge and grind that their original Hardcore influences are difficult to pinpoint. The result is one of Acme successfully straddling all of their influences without ripping them off, and unlike some of their imitators, they don't resort to blast-beat extremity by excess.

The influence and importance of these recordings has become impossible to ignore in the wake of the metallic hardcore and 'screamo' explosions that followed. Converge, Orchid, Morser, Caliban, Shikari, Breach...the list is expansive and far transcends the infamous 'Bremen scene'. Do not let these names fool you though. The originators were the masters, and for people who like genuinely intense, dark, challenging, extreme music of any form - this record is impossible to fault.

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