Will Hellthrasher productions ever cease to deliver great old school goods? Well, for now, the answer is obviously no, because everything Hellthrasher offered this year was pure old school filthiness and Pennsylvania's Abysmes' lastest offering ''Strange Rites'' is no exception. Abysme are relatively new death metallers, and although their style may not be too intricate or mind blowingly original, they do the same mid-paced Swedeath worshiping just as good as the hordes of bands that worshiped before them. I can sense lots of doom influence in the turbulent mixture, so that the listener definitely gets an old school vibe, and the gut ripping chainsaw guitar tone is also set to its max. It's obvious that Abysme aren't savvy artisans when it comes to crafting their material, but by know you should know that it's quite possible to ignite a fire for a metalhead by creating simple, filthy and hateful music.
Abysme have extremely prominent Swedish metal tendencies in their music, and the tempos are quite varied, as stomping mid pace crushers all of a sudden burst into pulverizing tremolo picking mayhem, and then the heavy, intense riffing shifts smoothly into a sludgy death/doom dirge. All the tempo variation is really great since it captures the attention of the listener with every stroke, but the album channels between mid-paced grooves and doom laden mammoth riffs far more often than the flashier, more spacious and fast riffs. That doesn't necessarily make the album a doom album, but it shows that there's definitely a doom-oriented sound that's highly prominent and there's also a good number of Bolt Thrower-esque mid paced grooves, resembling ''The Fourth Crusade'' the most. In addition to the churning of these ponderous sludge oozers, Abysme can conjure up a vile and atrocious sound without completely overwhelming the guitar in a distorted tone and enshrouding the whole of the album with a dark, dense, chaotic atmosphere. Don't get me wrong, Abysme can add some atmosphere into the music, but the riffs are set to a more spacious and comprehensible mood, so you'll scarcely witness any inundating riffs on this album.
''Scribbled In Dust'' is a nice way to start off the album, a swift track with short length with some catchy, even groovy moments, mandatory for any Swedeath fan. The next track ''Beyond The Seventh Door'' has some Incantation tremolo picking sequences, and embraces the doom influence much more than the previous track. There are many, many compelling and hard-hitting riff to be found on the album, but you'll have to patient, as your search will need to get much more extensive as the album descends into an end. If you're not really the kind that likes to wait, then I can't say this album is very suitable for you. The people who like to wait, and flow as one alongside the album will get what they want, and complex or not, the chainsaw driven mid paced momentum of ''Strange Rites'' is a distinctive sound, a great attribute that highlights everything on this subterranean force of filthy OSDM.
Highlights:
Scribbled In Dust
Remarkable Conqueror
Annihilated Memory
Rating: 86,5%
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