Abyssus
Monarch To the Kingdom Of the Dead ()
Wydane przez Self-financedRok wydania Kraj GreeceNapisał Wouter5
This Greek trio is one of three currently active acts under their chosen moniker (the others residing in Germany and the United States, respectively). Where those acts seem primarily black metal oriented; this Abyssus is of the death metal persuasion, the ancient Stockholm kind. Like veteran practitioners Grave and Unleashed, Abyssus make simplicity their strength. None of the material here is overly complex or particularly ambitious in its scope, yet the delivery makes it sound better than it probably is. The vocals reek of Johnny Hedlund (Unleashed) worship, yet miss the bite and venom you’d associate with death metal. The borderline parlando vocals (and the chosen vocal lines) of ‘No Tolerance’ are uniformly weak and tired sounding. As a track to close this EP it is anticlimactic. The sole highpoint of ‘No Tolerance’ is the ethnic Hellenic sounding acoustic bit that closes the track, hopefully Abyssus will expand upon this in the future. There’s no overarching atmosphere of darkness or hatred to speak of and the whole is a bit plain, average and commonplace in spots. The fiery leads/solos and spirited drumming are mentionworthy. Abyssus hasn’t yet found a conceptual niche like Unleashed and their Viking/Northern heritage themes. The band’s logo is clearly inspired by that of Obituary. This home-recorded affair actually sounds pretty good, with a notable bass-heaviness so often lacking in this genre. The drum tone is adequate, although the toms and snares could have sounded more organic. “Monarch To the Kingdom Of the Dead” is an enjoyable throwback record from a young band, but hardly mandatory hearing.
