Absu
Absu
Candlelight
Perhaps Absu sensed that recent rumblings in the Texas underground (Bahamirion and Brown Jenkins, amongst others) could be seen as challenges to their southern black metal throne, or perhaps they’d emerged Kraftwerk-like from years of intense lab activity and seances; the exact reasons matter not. Eight years on from their last full-length album, Texas’ finest kilt-wearing, Sumerian and Celt-obsessed bonkers black metallers Absu are back, fucking nuttier than ever. Absu are better than most at balancing amphetamine-eyed primitive speedrage with eccentric cape-wearing progressive tendencies. So while on the one hand, yeah, they shred and, yeah, they rock, the whole album is enveloped by this cloud of screaming, haphazard berzerker rage. Goblin vocals clash with re-purposed Forbidden riffs executed at Mach fucking 10, wasp’s nest depth charges, a flair for the dramatic that would make King Diamond come off like a wallflower, synth banks pinched from Yes, and chops to fucking spare. Magickal clouds of endless darktyme suffering. One of their best yet. Some Watain, some Sodom, some Burzum, some Cynic. Yep, that’ll do.
Candlelight Records: http://www.candlelightrecordsusa.com
