ACCUSER is a thrash metal band from Germany. The band began back in 1986 and have released countless albums. "The Mastery" is their second album with Metal Blade records following 2016's "The Forlorn Divide". Even with their storied past I personally have never heard ACCUSER, so I am interested to see what this band brings to the thrash metal table.

When "Mission: Missile" starts up it's like a slow ramp up to a harsh guitar riff with some extreme drum beats accompanying it. I wasn't feeling this song, it wasn't bad, but I felt that it was the weakest song on the album. Where that becomes so unfortunate is that it may be the only one that listeners hear when testing out the album. This song doesn't have the same melodic flair the other songs do and if someone turned away on this track they would miss a very good album that followed.

The second song on the album "The Real World" can only be described as beautiful chaos. It starts out with the title of the track being repeated over and over. The feeling that this isn't going to be good overcame me, and then the music kicks in. There is so many things being thrown out there in this song, and it should work but it does. Hell, at one point there is even some cowbell, but it continues to be melodic heavy thrash. By the time the guitar solo kicks in, and its an amazing solo, I am sold on this song, like I said beautiful chaos.

"Time for Silence" is anything but silent. The drums, guitar, and vocals come in hard and fast. Even with the speed of the song the band can keep it catchy and melodic. Like other songs on this album you find yourself tapping your feet and banging you head without even realizing it. There is a lot of irony that a song called "Time for Silence" is one of the loudest songs on the album. This track has another amazing guitar solo to put the musical cherry on top of a very good song.

"Catacombs" starts out a little tamer than the rest of the album, but quickly goes full throttle into the guitar and drums. Speed that the guitar keeps with the vocals in this song is very impressive. Overall, it's a very good listen. It is one of those songs you can put on in your car and thank later for the speeding ticket you will definitely get from it.

The band ends the album with the title track "The Mastery" which is a strong thrash song. It comes right out the gates to assault your eardrums. The last song on the album leaves you with the feeling of energy and readiness to enter the pit for some blood. By the time the song comes to and end you will catch yourself hitting the play button again.

Overall this was a stellar album. The melodic tone that the band is able to accomplish while still keeping it fast and heavy was amazing. I went into ACCUSER blind, and came out the other side a fan. When people miss the good ole days of thrash metal and fear that it is a thing of the past they need to look no further than Accuser. They are carrying that torch high above their heads as they burn up the competition.