A nightmarish void, nothing to hold onto, your brain completely clogged with madness as you try to survive, soot caked in your mouth as you gasp for breath. If that description sounds pleasurable, then Abyssal Rift and their outright assault of smothering death metal might be for you! The experience is as physical as it is audible. It hurts.
The Columbus-based beasts are back with “Relics of Great Ash,” a perfect name for these six tracks and 36 minutes. This is a battering ram of a record, one that dwells in utter blackness and works harder to dismantle you mentally than you might anticipate. That’s on top of the beating. This second album establishes the band—vocalist/guitarist/synth player/programmer Matt Auxier, bassist/vocalist Mike Sliclen, drummer/percussionist/vocalist Brandon Smith—as a force that deals in complete, darkness, grim doom (not the musical style), and flattening force.
“Consummate Design” starts in a tornadic sprawl, growls buried in the dust, leads flexing as the energy bristles. Things spill into a space void, melting brains and nerve endings, spattering before going into cold chills, guitars dripping away. “Relics of Great Ash” dawns with guitars stinging, howls retching, slowing as riffs fire, and doom waters cover the earth. The pace grinds and trudges, warping with thick chaos, sounds vibrating through the cosmos, destroying mentally and physically. Guitars race and truck, cries smearing, power taunting as the ferocity gathers and rings into oblivion. “The Enlightenment (There Was Never Will)” wafts on black metal fumes, leads swarming and bashing, crushing wills as the machine gears grind guts. Growls choke as the pace rampages, guitars catch fire, and things tun strangely techy, burning out into dust.
“The Death of God” pounds heavily, speeding and daring, trashing with sootiness that gets into your lungs. Growls darken as the guitars storm, keys unfurl as strange majesty, and doomy riffs ignite, spewing oil-thick blood that coats bones. “Surrealistic Visions” races and clobbers, leads confounding and displaying muscle, guitars washing over like a bizarre fog. The pace combusts at its center, guitars clawing and dragging unsuspecting victims, clubbing as the drums unload, compressing chest cavities. Closer “Sphere of Perpetuity” sprawls as the noise bubbles, guitars echo, and the playing stretches, dark filth igniting, the leads staggering wildly. The pace moves slowly, echoing and tripping, eventually bursting at the seams, slipping into different realities. The shadows thicken as the playing bubbles to the surface, growls mauling as the final blasts spit nails.
“Relics of Great Ash” is a molten mind fuck of a record, which is expected at Abyssal Rift’s bone-littered altar. They’re a mighty force that never shows its true face but always draws you into its dark core in order to have your mind warped. This is a grim beating that takes its toll on you and grinds you into the dirt, leaving you gasping.
For more on the band, go here: https://abyssalrift-label.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://us.tometal.com/
Or here (Europe): https://eu.tometal.com/
For more on the label, go here: https://transcendingobscurity.bandcamp.com/
Meat Mead Metal 