This may be a newly formed trio but the US band members are extremely well established in a host of other acts such as Ashen Horde, Catheter and Vimana. Such experience is always going to bear fruit when three such creative heads get together under the monikers of guitarist Vor (guitars), Walthrax on vocals and bassist Koszmar, ably assisted by the skin beating prowess of Jaud. There is a pernicious clinical savagery to this self-titled debut, its glacial atmosphere has been wonderfully crafted by skin flaying riffs and resolute speed as the album begins with ‘False Idols’. The blistering speed and inhumanity is tangible from the off, as this band adorns every song with copious amounts of riffs and cohesive tempo dynamics ensuring every song retains your attention. The opener provides all this in huge amounts and to varying degrees such is the way the band coalesces their song writing skills.
‘Mountebank’ is supremely intense, blasted ferocity is blown at you like a hurricane force blizzard as the vocals utilise a variety of tones to create texture and charisma at all times. As I stated earlier, this album is about riffs and speed and every track is deluged with them as ‘The Thorn’ proves, with its piercing incendiary violence and links brilliantly with the slight black thrash approach of ‘Byzantine Promises’. With ultra-obliterating velocity the song never holds back, preferring to pummel the listener with a remorseless attack.
Slowing down marginally is ‘Grave Expectations’, deploying a fine double bass run to bolster the density as the song is hook infested, following which ‘Unevanglized’ returns the album to full thrust annihilation. In places you can hear the band tinkering with a blackened death metal stance, and it works well, balancing against the enraging black metal with great cohesion. It is that ability to vary the songs, all the while using insane speeds that make this album so enjoyable, as the penultimate outing is ‘Hollow’, a song possessing a sinister atmosphere and some truly intense blasting before the album closes with the much longer ‘Sunless’.
‘Sunless’ clocks over seven minutes meaning far more exploration, a song using those valuable minutes brilliantly as it starts with a slower approach, which I expected. As it evolves you get the impression the band is creating a monster, a song with a metamorphosis that had me thinking about latter era Keep Of Kalessin. The massively tuneful lead break threads beautifully into the song too, elongated and pronounced it is a clear asset overall as the song adopts a clean vocal insertion that is really quite excellent and something I’d like to have heard more of on the album, maybe the next one will fulfil that for me.
A cracking debut from Abhoria, completely immersed in sub-zero riffing giving 2022 the glacial shards to make you take notice.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
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