One of the most underrated bands to come out of the Norweigan black metal scene, Abysmal released one excellent album and then promptly split up. Damn shame too, because this is really quite unique stuff. Abysmal played a twisted blend of black/doom, which is really unlike pretty much any band. This album is more of the more obscure sounding albums ever, not obscure in the sense of it being a demo limited to 50 copies, but obscure in the sense of music that would eminate from some malicious looking fog rolling through a forested valley. The band's career (this album and the demo, the demo I have not heard at the time of this writing) is a loose concept told out of order. One of the techniques that these guys perfected is building up on previous riffs. Listening to this album on headphones is recommended, as the bass weaves in and out with the guitar and drums to create a haunting atmosphere. Really the only thing I could compare this to would be the first Bethlehem album, but even then that comparison would be slightly inaccurate, as these guys have much more of a 'mystical' and occult feel than Bethlehem ever did. Fans of ambience in their black metal would do good to track this overlooked release down.
One of the most underrated bands to come out of the Norweigan black metal scene, Abysmal released one excellent album and then promptly split up. Damn shame too, because this is really quite unique stuff. Abysmal played a twisted blend of black/doom, which is really unlike pretty much any band. This album is more of the more obscure sounding albums ever, not obscure in the sense of it being a demo limited to 50 copies, but obscure in the sense of music that would eminate from some malicious looking fog rolling through a forested valley. The band's career (this album and the demo, the demo I have not heard at the time of this writing) is a loose concept told out of order. One of the techniques that these guys perfected is building up on previous riffs. Listening to this album on headphones is recommended, as the bass weaves in and out with the guitar and drums to create a haunting atmosphere. Really the only thing I could compare this to would be the first Bethlehem album, but even then that comparison would be slightly inaccurate, as these guys have much more of a 'mystical' and occult feel than Bethlehem ever did. Fans of ambience in their black metal would do good to track this overlooked release down.