As the skies are consumed by an apocalyptic haze stemming from some horrendous catastrophic event, Abstracter shall reign supreme over the charred and decrepit ruins. The Bay Area band’s fourth album, “Abominion,” is without question one the most highly anticipated extreme metal releases to come out this year. Sentient Ruin once again maintains an undeniable dominance amongst the underground with yet another unfathomably pulverizing release to add to the label’s already devastating catalog.
When I heard the news that Abstracter was going to be releasing a new album this year, I was really looking forward to what the band had in store for listeners. The first time I listened to the band was when I reviewed their debut album, “Tomb of Feathers,” for another online metal publication. Ever since then I have been keeping a close eye on the band and being from the Bay Area myself, I have watched them become a well respected and highly regarding act amongst the local underground community.
They combine such a variety of utterly devastating musical influences ranging from sickening black metal to gruesome death doom and sludge metal. Just like Bay Area icons Noothgrush, the band is able to paint an abysmal and apocalyptic sounding world that hits you with tremendous eye opening force. Once you starting listening to their music, there is simply no stopping the instrumental armageddon that they are capable of unleashing.
“Abominion,” is a deeper exploration into the haunting sinister musical voids first heard on the band’s debut album, but carries more of the same harsh sounding themes heard on their last album, “Cinereous Incarnate.” The band has gone through some line-up changes since the last release, but the mentality and sound has not changed one bit. Actually, I hear an even more raw and ruthless sounding band on this new release, especially pertaining to the drumming and the earth shaking guitar arrangements.
Greg Wilkinson did a tremendous job recording and mixing this release by capturing the band’s vicious and soul-crushing sound. The opening track, “Eclipse Born,” wastes little time throwing listeners into a massive sounding world where all light seems to be swallowed up by some unseen inhuman force. There are plenty of deafening riffs and bludgeoning drum parts that violently echo out of the speakers. The vocals compared to the band’s earlier releases have become even more demonic and malevolent, which is why I would consider this album to be their darkest sounding release to date.
Throughout the entire album songs like, “Warhead Twilight,” “Tenebrae” and “Abyss Above,” deliver such an agonizing sound along with a sheer unforgiving attitude. Each composition contains a mighty helping of juggernaut sized riffs that come crashing down like a violent distorted tsunami. In the end, the final track on the album, “Lighteater,” steals the show by offering one avant-garde exploration into mountains of unfathomable madness. The overall arrangement conveys a bleak doom like presentation, while you also feel this haunting hallucinogenic pathway leading you down a rabbit hole of sickening destruction. To me the song is reason alone to buy this album, and really shows how talented these musicians are when pertaining to writing songs that leave an impact on the listener.
There are no throwaway riffs, or cheap sounding arrangements for that matter, because everything done on this new album is done with a strong creative and sinister purpose. So many bands have tried to blend extreme elements together in an attempt to come up with a "brutal" release, but few have the ability to keep it all together for an entire album. Abstracter is the real deal and their continuous work ethic has really culminated into something almost unimaginable in the world of extreme music. I shall make the claim that this right now is one of the most profound releases of the year and one people are going to want to get their hands on. Hopefully Sentient Ruin can keep up with the demand, because orders will be flying off the shelves faster than when people went crazy trying to get toilet paper and had sanitizer!
Abstracter "Eclipse Born" (Album comes out October 1, 2021) :
Sentient Ruin bandcamp/where you can buy the album:
https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/abominion
Also Abstracter Bandcamp:
You're right! This band is pretty darn good.
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