Abduction Existentialismus

Abduction - Existentialismus

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Riding in on a wave of frosty blackened blast straight off “A Legacy Of Sores” lets you know what you’re in for, or does it? Abduction have been a jewel in the UK Black Metal crown for a while now but are very much a band for “those that know.”

On this album though Abduction spread their tattered wings and set their sights on far wider vistas. The nods to the likes of Watain are present and correct in their decidedly blood thirsty brew but so also is a flair for more progressive musicianship. This opening track does snare you with its rage but it takes you somewhere completely different by the time they’re done. “Pyramidia Liberi” is shot through with initial lumbering menace before unleashing the rhythmic assaults against the washing guitars before once again it flies to somewhere far more introspective. “Truth Is As Sharp A Sword As Vengeance” introduces clean vocals into the mix but they’re not nice clean vocals, these are full of forbidding and woe and they’re accompanied by sharp stabbing riffs before we once again ascend above the track into a more dreamlike passage. This is the progressive urge that sets this album apart from Abduction’s contemporaries and really highlights the musicianship on display here. The centerpiece of this album of the full blown transcendent black wings of “Blau ist die Farbe der Ewigkeit”, a truly emotionally stirring piece that is packed with drama. After this, the brief respite of “Razors Of Occam”’s introduction doesn’t last long before we are back into full tilt again, but in Abduction’s hands it sounds so fluid that it’s almost dreamy at times, for Black Metal. I think this is down to the firm grasp on melody and arrangement this album has, it manages to be both brutal and thoughtful simultaneously, whilst it ponders the biggest question of all: existence itself. This isn’t your standard corpse painted fodder, this is a highly cerebral collection that knows how to throw down as much as it knows when to let itself wander. “Vomiting At Baalbek” rounds out this opus and is as brutal as its title, taking Behemoth on at their game and upgrading it with imagination and class.

Existentialismus is an epic collection that elevates UK Black Metal to new heights and, if there’s any justice, should see Abduction reap the rewards.