Artist: The Abyss
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 1995
Rating: 4 Skulls
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Title: The Other Side Artist: The Abyss Label: Nuclear Blast Release Date: 1995
Rating: 4 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Requiem (6/10/03):
What do you get when you take the members of Hypocrisy, make them swap instruments and tell them they are now a black metal band? Well, you've got a killer side project called the Abyss, probably one of my favorite black metal records of all time for that matter. I know some of you "true" types are saying, "What??" But I say fuck true, Peter and company shred most of their competition a new satanic asshole without even trying. Black metal played by death metal dudes with good production. No silly make up. No attitudes. No satanic image to uphold. Just a killer album that clocks in at under 30 minutes, and packs enough energy to power a large city.Peter puts down the guitar and picks up the drumsticks. He also steals the four string away from Mikael and trades in his death growls for the evil dwarf screams found in bands like Darkthrone and Immortal. Lars and Mikael both take a stab at Peter's main gig role, equipped with six strings and throats of hell. Together they are The Abyss and unleash here 6 originals, one Hellhammer cover and an experimental noise track. What makes this project tick is their ability to make things interesting via catchy riffs and tempo changes galore. Peter handles the drum duties like a true pro, but more importantly with a great sense of style and an ability to make the songs more potent with the tempo changes throughout the songs. His love for death metal still comes through in his playing and his adoration for snare fills reminds me of none other than Proscriptor (of Absu fame). The guitars are displayed in pristine fashion, old school in execution and give harmonies a brand new value. Together they show that having a stellar production, superb playing abilities and an affection for varying tempos is not all a bad thing.
"Marutukku" starts the album in blast beat bedlam, later to be joined mid-song by a much slower acoustic section and ends with blasts. "Psychomantum" is handled in a similar manner, with guitar breaks into hyperblasts and double bass breakdowns. All the tempo changing could be due to the fact that Peter was unable to blast away for a full album. But this would all be changed by the second album Summon the Beast, which was a full on blast fest and a clear decline in quality due to the one-dimensional nature of the whole affair. The songs on The Other Side thrive on the diversity of tempos and the sheer power exhibited as a result. A blast beat placed up against a mid paced groove will often have more of an effect than an album of pure blasts. That is the key element that makes this album the better of the two. The noise track at the end is needless filler unfortunately, but the Hellhammer track is a well done homage to the innovators of this music, especially with the better musicianship this time around. Produced at Abyss Studio, Peter's production prowess gives the album the extra intensity that lacks on many of the intentional raw recordings surfacing at this time. Sometimes it amazes me that a side project could be so good. But would we expect anything less out of the Hypocrisy boys?
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