Avsolutized-Den Svarta Våndans Genealogi(2008) Neinsphere Records
Japan

Walking into Aquarius Records I knew nothing about Avsolutized expect that their website praised them as strange and fucked up black metal from Japan. A formula that sounded good so I picked it up. It sounded better than I would have ever thought and I now present to you what maybe just be the best album of 2008 after only four months.

Avsolutized play strange but strongly melodic black metal that does not sound far from a mixture of Emperor and Arkha Sva. The guitars play hugely epic riffs under the over-the-top vocal lines. The guitar lines are still raw, in a good way, but it does not get contaminated with bad musicianship, which happens to be very tight here, or noisy production. The clean guitar breaks sound very similar to cheaper version of Opeth expect with the very cool opera styled falsetto singing.

The album holds its interesting quality through unique composing with strange bits and pieces here and there. The use of epic guitar breaks with break neck speed gives its breed of raw black metal a different vibe and refreshing vibe that is very rare to find in black metal. I would not tag this album as “progressive black metal” but it does show a much more experimental and full sound that you do not find in the genre much. Songs like “An Everlasting Circulation of Void” build and develop into catchy hymns of darkness that include a fair amount of super high vocals and demented weeping. A very scary song it is.

The minor key melodies play a huge part in the instrumental tracks that create a sinister atmosphere and prelude the track that follows in a proper way. Avsolutized certainly know how to write full songs and not just string riffs together, this skill is shown in “A Lament For You There” and “Utan Död...” , where powerful riffs mix with the extraordinary vocals.

There is a lacks a full album feel though. It is not a declared full-length nor does it have the intention to and it is too long to be an EP but has somehow been called compilation by the band them-self. I am not as to what is being compiled here because of the lack of much released aside for a short demo before this. Keep in mind that the album features a Setheral cover. “My Veins Are Open” sounds excellent but I have never heard the original. I will be sure do to do that soon.

While I would not call the drum machine sounds bad by any means, it does lack a fair amount of diversity and interesting patterns instead of blasting throughout the whole song. The tones do sound real, enough that I did know that they were being produced

The vocals stay sick throughout the whole record. The vocals go from super high falsetto a la Arkha Sva or Peste Noire to low growl vocals. It is perhaps the highlight of the whole record. I can consider this one of the best albums in terms of vocals to come out in the past years. The clean singing is not like much I have ever heard. It is proper classical singing with what seems like a intentional slightly off-key delivery The lyrics have not been really released so I can not comment on them but for some reason they sing in Swedish but are from Japan? Badass indeed.

For fans of: Peste Noire, Emperor, Arkha Sva, Enslaved and Dissection

The album is limited to 500 copies and can be bought through their label Neinsphere Records or Bay-Area record store Aquarius Records.

Originally written for my solo blog known as Obscure Art. http://strangeandobscure.blogspot.com/