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It's always a pleasure to hear from one of the world's most underrated black metal bands, and Leytmotif Luzifer, the tenth album from Austrian duo Abigor, is no different. The band have reinvented themselves again, stepping away from the electronic influences of Fractal Possession and Time is the Sulphur... but retaining that experimental and chaotic approach to songwriting. They've even stepped away from the crowd by matching their album artwork to the A5 digipak release (which came out as too small to make out when uploading, so the artwork above is from the vinyl release). And the result is a combination of facets of black metal that sounds absolutely unique. From the liturgical Satanism of the lyrics to the statement that no synths or effects were used in the production on any guitars, and even the vocals only have reverb and delay, Abigor remain traditionalist to the core. Yet the technicality and viciousness of the music is very much that of 2014, not 1994, something like a combination of Mayhem's technical power and the absolute experimental chaos of Deathspell Omega. Above all, though, it sounds like Abigor – continuing the niche that the Austrians have carved out for themselves of interesting, technically flawless music that is black metal first and foremost. Long-term members P.K. and T.T. have been in the band since the beginning, and are very talented with guitars and (in T.T.'s case) drums. The duo are joined by Silenius and Protector of that other great Austrian black metal institution, Summoning, on vocals and the result is tremendous, up there with Csihar's vocal heights. Divided into seven tracks numbered Temptation I-VII, the album is a slab of heaviness that reveals its depths a little more with each listen. The first Temptation, Ego, is the most straightforward track present, almost blackened thrash in riffing, although the riffs soon turn strange and experimental, shrieking and squalling, and that strangeness continues. The likes of Akrasia are almost like deranged satanic church services, dark choirs echoing above the riffs, frequently dropping drums altogether for moments of discordant ambience. Tracks come and go with ease, sliding in and out seamlessly, holding your ears hostage. The band are at their best here when they're most atmospheric, moments like Indulgence slowing the pace for a dip into Aborym-esque darkness, but it's eleven-minute finale Excessus when the experimentation is at its most chaotic and dark that Abigor's true power is unleashed. It's not the band's best album, with a complete lack of catchiness and being complex and deranged enough to require multiple listens before you've even begun to uncover its secrets. It's not particularly memorable, either, except as something dark and brutal that you're unsure was even real. But as far as experimental yet still very black metal goes, this should be top of your list. |
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Killing Songs : Ego, Akrasia, Indulgence, Excessus |
Goat quoted 80 / 100 | |||||||||||||||
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