Forget the latest trends, forget superhuman, athletic instrumentation, forget technicality and sophistication; if the world does end on the 21st December as some people claim the Mayans predicted, I want to be listening to something like Abysme. The band themselves have clearly forgotten the things I listed too; their music is a dark, primitive and apocalyptic tribute to all things old and death metal.
Like a blast of pure sulphur in the face, the album is a direct aural assault dug up from the very beginnings of death metal, through layers of putrefying trends and subgenres; this is straight from the source.
Make no mistake; this is in no way original. If you are after a brand new and original take on the dark, pounding subgenres of metal, look elsewhere. That is not to say that Abysme haven’t got their own take on so called `old-school’ death metal however. What they appear to have done here is created a successful fusion of ancient Swedish death metal, with the brutal primitivism of legendary American bands such as Incantation and early Immolation.
The result is a wonderfully dark, violent and slightly chaotic affair, which really takes me back to the very first time I heard death metal in all its grim and dark glory. Brad Heiple’s vocals are fantastically deathly; a harsh, throaty gurgle from beyond the grave, with a beautiful touch of reverb which makes the vocals sound as if they were recorded in a deep, dank cave somewhere, not a studio inPittsburgh. The band also know how to write a riff or two; every dark, primitive slab of pure evil is used to maximum effect. There are heaps of fast-picked, frenzied riffing reminiscent of early Dismember, some fantastic, doom-laden single note dirges and a heap of crushing, sludge-filled chords. For an old-style album that isn’t a genuinely old classic, this is remarkably atmospheric, authentic sounding piece of work, which never becomes self indulgent or boring. The songs are spat out in quick succession, without any instrumental passages or strange horror noises (apart from the very beginning of the album), and the band set about delivering exactly what they promised over 10 grim, pestilent songs. Each song is fairly short, which keeps the whole thing sounding fresh (if that is possible for gnarly, maggot-ridden death metal).
All the deathly thrashing and bashing is aided by a wonderfully low-budget production, which is the icing on this disease-filled cake. The entire album is exactly as dark, atmospheric, dramatic and grim as you could possibly want an old-school, authentic sounding death metal album to be. Original and innovative it is not, but if you love bands like Grave, Dismember, Asphyx, Incantation et al, you will almost definitely enjoy this slab of dark, heavy nastiness.
(7/10 Jon Butlin)
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