The most interesting albums are oftentimes those that challenge the listener. Whether it’s in attempting a different sound than what we’re used to or offering a singularly oppressive experience, there are many ways that any band can come around to show us what can be done in grandeur, yet not all that many are able to shoot for the stars and then return to us with something that blows our minds. When Abyssal Rift first came around three years ago with its first album, it needs to be said that their exceptionally complex and hostile brand of death metal was something that could absolutely delivered such a spectacle. Now, with their second offering, Abyssal Rift seizes its destiny with fervor and terror.
We’ve seen numerous names come out of the woodwork to show us the otherworldly terror that metal can bring to the table when you seek knowledge that feels forbidden with such power that leaves nothing to chance nor offers any shred of mercy to those caught before such a magnificent beast. Sometimes, when the right talent comes around, it can feel like accessing some deep lore from beyond the stars with particularly ferocious metal names able to come forward and show us how such wisdom can be twisted to a sound that’s downright nefarious. Throughout the entirety of “Relics of Great Ash”, Abyssal Rift does that and far more. This record is truly terrifying to become lost within. Nothing feels safe in the midst of these writhing atmospheres that come for the very light of your soul, riffs that carve the unprepared flesh off your meager bones, and an approach that could collapse a star should Abyssal Rift deem it so. “Relics of Great Ash” is an undeniably intimidating work that sees the listener thrashed about the cosmos to the point of great exhaustion, yet it is when the record comes to a close that one cannot separate themselves from the grand visions that have been injected into the mind. Where madness and the weight of the universe intersect, Abyssal Rift thrives.
This band has done far more than simply create an experience that offers a thick sound with some semblance of an atmosphere. Rather, it’s around every corner of this piece that Abyssal Rift makes damn sure to give the listener a caustic brand of death metal laced with more than a little bit of doom to instill an overwhelming sense of terror, dread, and foreboding that reverberates throughout the entirety of your being. “Relics of Great Ash” is nothing if not a work that whittles you down to a small terrified being stuck before the all-consuming might of a supernova on the edge of explosion with Abyssal Rift the perfect vessel to bring such magnitude to life.
“Relics of Great Ash” releases on August 14th via Transcending Obscurity Records!
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