Review Summary: The progression is complete
True artists suffer for their work. Often a success is cloaked in darkness, only to be vanquished with its unveiling. That’s the sense derived from “The Sleeping City” which had the (un)enviable task of following the widely embraced and monumental “Woe” three short years ago. Even for a band as accomplished as An Abstract Illusion it was never going to be easy but they’ve done it. Ultimately with aplomb.
Any artistic endeavour of this magnitude requires an opening statement of equal scope and An Abstract Illusion deliver with “Blackmurmur”, an eleven minute conjuncture of ideas and ideals that immediately aligns with the colour palette of purple hues and mist of the album art.
“No Dreams Beyond Empty Horizons” is a richly orchestrated piece that begins to convey the emotion behind “The Sleeping City”, as with “Woe” this is not for the faint of heart, nor the faint of spirit. The clean lines of the closing lead guitar are as pronounced as the album art’s brush strokes, again the art forms coinciding. A furious swell of progressive death metal supervenes “Like a Geyser Ever Erupting”, the early stages the high point of extremity in “The Sleeping City”. Fixes of blast beats are to be had with later tremolo picking giving way to an expansiveness of keyboard driven progressive metal that borrows from the “Woe” epic “Tear Down This Holy Mountain”.
Whilst “The Sleeping City” has the progressivity, complexity and dexterity of the most recent works from like-minded acts Eternal Storm, Persefone, Kardashev and Amiensus, An Abstract Illusion are a shelf up and currently sit atop this holy mountain of intricate and intriguing melodic death metal.
Central to the compositions is guitarist and songwriter Karl Westerlund whose sweeping solos and arpeggios splash this canvas with tones thoroughly consistent with Abstract Illusionism. Deliberate or not the music mirrors the concept of Abstract Illusionism, combining abstract (album) art with the illusion of three-dimensional space (the music) to "create a sense of depth and movement in abstract compositions" as typically defined.
No track paints a clearer picture that “Frost Flower” which especially reminds me of Kardashev with its delicate exterior inevitably melting to reveal darker undertones. These conflicting shades are largely achieved through the greater role of keyboards and synthesizers in “The Sleeping City” to create a layered ethereal synthesis, a symphony of atmospheric death metal.
The band is rounded out by Christian Berglönn (harsh vocals), Robert Stenvall (keyboards, cleans) and Isak Nilsson (drums and background vocals) to convert Westerlund’s vision into intangible art. In this age, the dark arts of death metal are routinely flavoured to provide depth but rarely are as organic as “The Sleeping City” and songs like “Emmett”, given time and space to breathe and live out its purpose.
Whilst the record doesn’t contain a phenomenon the likes of “Woe’s” “In The Heavens Above You Will Become a Monster", “The Sleeping City” in some ways eclipses “Woe” with six evenly matched tracks that are only buffered by the penultimate “Silverfields”, an instrumental that holds its value. As is customary in progressive metal, the (djenty) title track is the final curtain call I see to close out an incredible journey of metal in art and art in metal that is worthy of the suffering.
