Absu - Absu

September 3, 2009

Reviewer: Rottenbucher

After 8 years, Mythological Occult Metal masters Absu are back. Drummer/Vocalist Proscriptor assembles a whole new band and gets a members from Mayhem, Melechesh, Firstborn, Enthroned and King Diamond to add a little bit more to their self-titled album. While fans were anxiously awaiting nearly a decade from the follow up to their masterpiece, Absu proudly arrives with another chilling does of Thrashy Black Metal now bolstered with a Prog and Psychedelic vibe.

Opening with "Between the Absu of Eridu and Erech" starts off rather by rote before twisting, turning and swirling into a serious riff-fest. Proscriptor's vocals are lean and raw and his drumming can barely be contained at times. The energy continues with the tremendous "Night Fire Canonization." A pure on assault the track rips out healthy doses of Blackened Thrash.  Things get a little whacky with "Amy."  The song starts out Thrashy, turns Blackened and then channels some seriously catchy NWOBHM. Both "Nunbarshegunu" and "13 Globes" scream from some medication as the band unleashes two logic-defying ADHD songs. The Psychedelic moments appear with the schizophrenic "Of the Dead...".  The song is a train wreck of riffs and keyboard fits. While the song could pass as being creative, it sounds more a jumbled mess that shoved in some keyboards.

Things get back on track with "Magic(k) Square Cipher." Built on odd-time structures and haunting melodies, the song quickly moves from majestic to maniacal with combative riffs and barely controlled chaos. The song weaves in and out with fits of brilliance and brutality abound. "In the Name..." benefits from impressive solos from Michael Harris (Darkology) and the bellicose moments of "Girra's Temple" turn chaos into impressive craft. And craftsmanship does come into play heavily with the bizarre "Those of the Void Will Enter." Again using Blackened brutality and full on sonic assaults, the song actually has a few tender moments with magical keyboards and haunting ambience. "Sceptre Command" starts out sounding complete unfocused before nicely morphing into some well crafted moments that even include nice melodies and shredding solos from.

One of the biggest problems with Absu is there are too few memorable moments. While there are heaps of impressive playing and fits of brilliance, the album suffers from sounding jumbled together and sometimes even disorganized. Each song seems to have a mind of its own and the band has a hard time reining them in. And when the band does find a great groove, a riff, a tempo or a melody, it quickly disappears and sometimes never even returns to the song. Another issue with the album is that is takes quite a few listens to comprehend. Upon repeated listens, it is easier to digest most of the mayhem. But when the majority of the songs race along just for the hell of it and the prog moments are sometimes bogged down by the blasting, it becomes hard to maintain focus while being audibly assaulted. Plus the few psychedelic moments also have difficulty blending in with the mostly psychotic tantrums of each song. Perhaps the band bit off more than they could chew or this album just may be a bit too smart for the fair-weather fan.  Either way, Absu is an exhausting album. While Absu doesn't repeat or compete with Tara, it's a decent album that will appeal to the band's fans but probably won't win over any newcomers. 

Release Date: February 16th, 2009
Label: Candlelight Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Between the Absu of Eridu
     and Erech
2.  Night Fire Canonization
3.  Amy
4.  Nunbarshegunu
5.  13 Globes
6.  ...Of the Dead Who Never Rest
     in Their Tombs are the
     Attendance of FamiliarSpirits...
     Including: A.) Diversified Signs
     Inscribed,  B.) Our Earth of
     Black, C.) Voor
7.  Magic(k) Square Cipher
8.  In the Name of
     Auebothiabathabaithobeuee
9.  Girra's Temple
10.  Those of the Void Will Enter
11.  Sceptre Command
12.  Ye Uttuku Spells
13.  Twix Yesterday, The Day
        and The Morrow

Total playing time:  53:45

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