Acceptance present their first album – Crucifixion Of Orchids – an immersion in emotional darkness

I have counted them down through the years, each one a part of my heart. Eaten alive by the cruel, rapacious hunger of the flames; slipping slowly into darkness, lonely and afraid; lost in a place they once called home, broken and dissolving into tears and confusion; locked in a prison of flesh that has betrayed them and harboured secret enemies. And the sun has risen and set, time after time, without heed of their passing. And the waves have washed the shifting sands beneath my feet, never pausing to take account of my grief. For all our dreams, our passions and our failings, we are but brief shades, dancing in the summer rain, so quickly absorbed back into the earth from which we came.

In 2024, after six years of endeavour – one demo, one EP and one album – Fatalist shed their skin and emerged from the accumulated debris of experience as Acceptance. Now, with a new focus, a new determination and a new supportive label, it is time for Acceptance to unveil their first creation – an album that heralds the beginning of a new story, a new journey through internal and external darkness – Crucifixion Of Orchids. The five songs that form this monumental outpouring of emotion are rich in mood and texture, driven through changes in dynamics and tempo by drums that feel like a living creature, surging and retreating like the tides, pulsing with fierce life. Harsh, dolorous bass tones mingle with the vibrant, virulent drumming, while guitars howl and rage like uncontrollable storms of emotion and impassioned, scathing vocals complete the daunting sound palette. Together they create imposing sonic structures and remarkable juxtapositions, like first single, ‘Empyreal’ which seems to fly, riding on elemental air currents through a forest of twisted, crippled hands that seek to tear it down, or the epic, seething mass of sound that is concluding track ‘Paradise’ that moves through cataclysmic explosions and burning power to an aftermath of ashes, to a perfect pool of peace and reflection to a finale of impenetrable black. Crucifixion Of Orchids is both a laying to rest and a phoenix-like rebirth, the beginning of something excoriating, cathartic and magnificent.

Riding high after a recent successful UK tour with STILL, Acceptance will release Crucifixion Of Orchids through underground powerhouse label Road to Masochist on May 2nd. This album will burn with a consuming black fire in the extreme music scene, drawing fractured souls to its lightless flame. The age of Acceptance has begun…