Review Summary: You need a mind condom for the mind fuck you're about to experience.
2 of 4 thought this review was well writtenIf you can, think back to a time when you felt like you were suffocating, choking, graping for air, or anything of the sort. It's a pretty scary feeling. Not being able to breathe and panicking trying to gasp the air in. Now if you can imagine that, you'll know exactly what you're in for when you listen to the debut album,
Denouement, by this British blackened death metal band Abyssal.
Honestly, this album gives you absolutely no room to breathe at all. Essentially, this album is just 50 minutes of absolute insanity. Rarely taking any breaks. Think of the chaotic and heavily atmospheric styles of bands such as Portal or Deathspell Omega and you'll basically get the sound Abyssal is going for. There is a difference though, Abyssal seems to focus on making more climactic types of songs. The average of the songs here is around 8 or 9 minutes, so there's plenty of time to fit in exactly what they're trying to do, and to me, it sounds like they're trying to make the listener as afraid as they possibly can. The guitars are extremely downtuned and very ominous sounding. The length also helps them extremely in their transitions throughout each track. One minute will be heavily focused on the riffs and heaviness, and then another will be more focused on the atmosphere and the melody. Yes, there is some melody, but not in a cheesy way. Vocally, there's nothing except for gutturals. I mean, I'm sure everyone reading this probably would've expected that. Not too understandable, but very enjoyable nonetheless.
Abyssal are obviously apart of this new breed of death metal bands that aren't as focused on paying homage to classic death metal bands that came before them, but are more focused on atmospherics while still remaining as heavy as a death metal band should be. Bands such as this, Antediluvian, Flourishing, and Impetuous Ritual, as well as the already established and well known Portal, among some others, are certainly bands you're going to want to watch out for if you like this brand of chaotic death metal music.
