Abstract Spirit - Horror Vacui (CD)

Review
Temple of Doom
16.3/20
29.09.2011

Funeral Doom Metal, movement III! 2011 sees the return of Moscow Abstract Spirit with another album after the debut ‘Liquid Dimensions Change’, in 2008, and ‘Tragedy And Weeds’ in the next year. Anyone who has ever crossed - or rather, was rammed! - with the sound of this trio, knows quite well what can count on, just need to read the first sentence of this text. For the 'newbie’s', this 'Horror Vacui' turns out to be the discovery of the band at their next step, specifically, not on improving the formula, with touches here and there, but looking forward for a deeper sound with some new ideas up till now little explored.
The half-dozen tracks, plus the ambiental interlude 'Vigilae Mortuorum (Interludium)', which are part of this work seem even slower and look a bit more epic. This impression is immediately evident in the opening song, "Beyond Closed Eyelids', where side by side with immense and immeasurably heavy riffs, played by M. Hater and deep guttural voices courtesy of I. Stellarghost, there is a greater incorporation of keyboards and piano passages, allowing those songs to breathe from their slow and hypnotic violence, which will provide the listener, therefore, time to catch his breath before returning to be swallowed by this huge mass of sound.
During these 70 minutes, falls upon us a funereal blackness, creating an unhealthy atmosphere, miserable, a monument that is built, slowly, in a subtle and chilling progression, in a Dantesque way that collides against our senses, leaving us with a feeling of malaise disturbing. The choirs, which laments along this deadly ode, act as light balms, momentary, along this route by hideous landscapes.
This album turns out as one, indivisible rock, overwhelming, both for its consistency of style and sound but also by the cadence that have their own tracks, weaving them into each other quite naturally. Yet, we need to emphasize 'Post Mortem' and 'Pulse'.
'Horror Vacui', not being a perfect record, or innovative, has the knack to show a very intense cohesion and power of their sound and stylistic ability to affirm Abstract Spirit as one of the best bands in the funeral segment in Russia and in Europe, capable of being able to comparable with the Germans Ahab.
For us, the last 70 minutes of the Apocalypse have already a proper soundtrack.

Author: quinta-feira

Review
Hammerworld
9/10

A funeral doom műfajban sem könnyebb jót alkotni, mint bármely más irányzatban. Az utóbbi időben számos újsütetű ultralassú funeral brigádot hallottam, de igazán kiemelkedőt nem sokat. Ezért ért kellemes meglepetésként, amit a 2006-ban alakult orosz Abstract Spirit csinál.
Lassan mélyre hangolt riffeket pengetni, hörögni sokan tudnak, de igényes kompozíciókat szerezni már lényegesen kevesebben. Ez a moszkvai trió nem áll messze attól, hogy bekerüljön a funeral doom elit körébe. Már a 2009-es Tragedy And Weeds is jól sikerült, de a Horror Vacui című harmadik album a nemzetközi mezőnyt tekintve is komoly, érett mű.
A 71 perces lemezen 7 dal található, amelyek mindegyike egy-egy önálló elégiája egy pusztulóban lévő világnak. Ez a téma éppenséggel nem ritka a (doom) metalban, de ez a zenekar olyan félelmetes és vészjósló zenével fejezi ki mindezt, mintha már valóban hullana a tűzeső, és gigantikus lángtenger készülne elnyelni mindent.
E vészterhesen sötét halálmenetre olyan elődök hatottak, mint a már nem létező finn Colosseum (Juhani Palomäki – RIP) és az amerikai Evoken, utóbbi, véleményem szerint a planéta egyik legsötétebb zenét játszó formációja. Hatásuk leginkább a Pulse című tételben mutatkozik meg, de az absztrakt lelkek nem melegednek meg a nagyobb csapatok másolásával, sok egyéni ízt hozzátesznek a dalaikhoz. Jellemző ezekre a rétegzett hangszerelés, a gitár és a billentyűsök témáinak, továbbá az effekteknek a tökéletes szimbiózisa, „együttmozgása”, minek következtében igazán remekül sikerült monumentális szerzeményeket hallhatunk. A. K. iEzor dobos/énekes mély hörgése standard elem e zenében, egyébként anyanyelvén zengi mondanivalóját.
A Horror Vacui műfajában kiváló alkotás, nem csupán tökéletes funeral doomot hallhatunk, de az oroszok rengeteg hangszerelési és zenei ötlettel tették gazdagabbá a lassú, sötét zenék világát. Dicséret illeti őket!

Review
Mtuk Metal Zine

Russia's Abstract Spirit are an appropriately named band, their endlessly plodding style of funeral doom possessing an ethereal, laudanum-like quality with a strong air of Victorian spiritualism about it, not unlike Evoken's more recent efforts. Endless riffs break menacingly and bend out of shape, whilst sprinklings of gentler clean chords and desolate melodies offer moments of reflection in amongst the crushing gloom.

There is progression to be found here, but it is creeping and subtle, building slowly through mesmeric, pounding dirges that push on relentlessly to the accompaniment of keyboard-sampled choirs and organ, the doleful blare of horns, fleeting refrains of cello and male and female laments that lurk behind impenetrably thick and guttural growls. Scattered fragments of piano add a classical feel, bringing to mind some ancient silent horror film and further strengthening the music's morbid 19th century atmosphere. One song, 'Pulse', incorporates awkward, wrenching harmonic squeals that are highly reminiscent of My Dying Bride circa 'Turn Loose The Swans'.

Listening to the album is like plunging into the depths of a trance, with the songs all seeming to blend together into one long, unbroken piece. It also possesses an undeniably nautical feel, reminding of a more moribund Ahab. Indeed, the classic imagery and themes already used by Ahab spring to mind just as easily here; the desperate plight of the survivors of the wrecked Medusa clinging to life aboard an overcrowded raft, hopelessly adrift in an immensity of nothingness; the Pequod rolling on through black seas, a singular speck of light blazing with hatred, storm-lashed and lost in the endless darkness. This might be a heavily overused theme in metal nowadays, but it remains impossible not to think of here, even though the actual lyrical themes are quite different: feeding them into Russian translation software produces some morbid yet eloquent Romantic musings on consciousness and mortality. Granite gravestones are heavy-lettered pages in the book of Death; empty eye sockets stare out into oblivion from the folds of crumpled shrouds; features distort and decay; but something of the self continues to exist, walled-up eternally within a fragment of some unfamiliar dream. Cheery stuff, and nicely done.

Though the songs might seem rather uniform at first, repeated listens reveal a rich variety achieved through masterful use of minimalism, and though the pace remains at the same steady, lumbering crawl throughout the songs nevertheless manage to ebb and flow with pulses of increased urgency and gravity, as if being pulled down into ever-greater depths, real or imagined. The songs flow as a series of movements as in a classical piece, with different sections constantly rising to the fore; mournful synths; ethereal choirs; searching brass complete with rhythmic, lurching horns; languishing guitar melodies and abyssal, crushing riffs, all working in unison to carefully cultivate the shifting, desolate mood.

The final (title) track brings things to their natural conclusion, calling to mind a deathbed scene in which life slowly ebbs away as delirium takes hold. Strangulated synths and woodwind hang in the air, so warped as to be bent almost out of tune, the senses rapidly diminishing and the world becoming distant. A rush of urgent chants marks the Last Rites, merging with angry, hysterical pleading and wails of despair as thick, spasmodic staccato riffing continues to spiral downwards like final, gasping breaths. Then it ends, suddenly and abruptly, in a statement of absolute finality.

As a classically-influenced funeral doom album, 'Horror Vacui' is pretty much flawless. It's hypnotically repetitive but never dull, flowing naturally from one carefully crafted arrangement to another, leaving the mind to wander through some place where time has no meaning, cocooned within the labyrinthine stone corridors of some ancient, otherworldy necropolis, or buried at sea, sinking forever but never reaching the bottom. The production is excellent, the various instruments and vocals sounding perfectly balanced as they drift in and out, and is paradoxically both claustrophobic and vast, evoking some infinite, featureless space that is nevertheless hugely oppressive. It may take a few listens to fully appreciate its depth and beauty, but this is definitely one album that's worth getting lost in.

Author: Ross Taylor

Review
Nocturne
8/10

U muzici ovih ludaka oduvek je bilo eksperimenata, disharmonije, ali i melodičnosti, a ta hrabra mešavina je sada još izraženija. Dobre produkcije, „Horror Vacui“ kao da bi mogao više odgovarati kojim black fanovima nego funeral sledbenicima jer, iako besomučno spor, odiše takvom energijom. S druge strane, zanimljive promene u pesmama, ruski jezik kojim sve vreme reže na nas, rifovi i melodije kojima se dubine ne znaju, čine da Abstract Spirit ovim albumom polako izranjaju ka vrhu posustale (nove) doom scene.

Author: Boban Pantoš

Review
Zwaremetalen
7.5/10
23.08.2011

Na het beluisteren van Horror Vacui, de derde cd van Russische funeral doomers Abstract Spirit, zal het lachen je zijn vergaan. Met een trage zekerheid neemt de band je mee in een muzikale nachtmerrie en laat men je wanhopig en desolaat achter.

Ruim zeventig minuten klokt deze schijf en de nummers duren, afgezien van een intermezzo, tussen de negen en dertien minuten. Het tempo varieert van traag naar zeer traag tot tergend traag en maakt de onheilspellende nummers tot een ultieme soundtrack voor een horrorfilm. Ondanks de lange duur van de nummers weet Abstract Spirit de aandacht vast te houden en voor genoeg variatie te zorgen. Steeds weer komt er iets angstaanjagends bovendrijven. Repetitieve en hypnotiserende gitaarriffs worden ondersteund door kale drumpartijen en de lang uitgesponnen keyboardpartijen maken het geheel af, hoewel deze wel wat gedateerd klinken. Het overall geluid is zwartgallig donker waarbij vooral de gorgelende grunt van A.K. iEzor opvalt. Er is ruimte voor cleane gitaar, een zangeres en koorachtige stukken, en het sporadisch gebruik van geluidseffecten geeft de muziek net wat extra’s.

Doomers kunnen hun hart weer ophalen met deze nieuwe release van Abstract Spirit. Let wel, dit is niet voor tere zieltjes, tenzij je het idee hebt aan je laatste dagen toe te zijn. Door de zwaarte van deze plaat zal niet elke doomer hier zijn weg mee kunnen vinden maar neem je de moeite dan krijg je een sterk staaltje epische negativiteit op je afgevuurd die hier en daar wat schoonheid herbergt.

Author: Ronald Lagerwaard