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For those who listen to black metal and extreme metal in general, the name Abigor needs no introduction.
The Austrian band, which is now celebrating the significant milestone of 30 years of career, can undoubtedly be considered among the absolute veterans in the aforementioned genres. Since their formation, Abigor has embraced and made black metal their own, maintaining an important identity and steadily evolving their fierce and majestic sound, regardless of the multitude of symphonic, dissonant, and futuristic influences that have enriched it over the years.
I like to use the adjective majestic to emphasize how, despite numerous changes, this band has always been able to communicate their musical intentions with class. Often rising above and setting themselves apart from many of their contemporaries, in these three decades, Abigor has released several masterpieces, such as the revolutionary Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom), which initiated an extraordinary series of records from 1995 to 1999, but also that cybernetic hell known as Fractal Possession (2007), which not only marked their return after a temporary separation in the mid-2000s but also reignited their creative flame through electronic and industrial experiments. More recently, in 2020, Abigor released an instant classic with Totschläger (A Saintslayer's Songbook), further consolidating their status in the underground and beyond.
Totschläger... was for me perfection (or almost) for this genre of music. I still consider it Abigor's best album to this day. Their zenith. Their magnum opus. Absolute sonic violence through compositional mastery. Memorability, but without compromise. Classic elements fused with a modern approach. And I could go on for hours trying to explain the genius behind that incredible album.
We are now in 2024 and finally, after several delays, this album is finally released. Well, is it possible to emulate perfection? Is it possible for an artist to repeat their highest and most important creative moments during such a long artistic journey? It's not. But you can learn from them. Strongly. And that's exactly what Abigor has done on this new musical milestone, a new excellent manifesto of evil made music.
Taphonomia Aeternitatis... is undoubtedly the band's most adventurous work. In a way very similar to the previous Totschläger..., gathering some of its best traits: sophisticated songwriting, inspired riffing, and an histrionic vocal delivery by the usual, monstrous Silenius who, once again, completes the lineup alongside the two main creative minds of the band, T.T. and P.K.; the aforementioned elements now serve as a glue in a much more avant-garde and almost progressive sound, which also recalls some facets seen in the past, mainly on albums like Fractal Possession and Leytmotif Luzifer, as well as their split-album with the French Blacklodge.
If during the first listens Taphonomia Aeternitatis... presents itself as an absolutely overwhelming and hard-to-digest album, listen after listen songs like Halt the Wheel of Timeless Change, Feasting on the Prophet's Blood, Cult of Elder Chaos or Burning Hell absolutely won me over with their devastating sonic power, made of complex and convulsive riffs, technical drumming and an enormous amount of details, exacerbated by a wall of sound production. A sonic wall still adorned with some orchestral embellishments, where the intensity occasionally lowers to make room for dissonances and melodies, female vocals (reminiscent of the band's early works) and clean vocals with a theatrical flair.
Although black metal remains the fertile ground on which Abigor's sound grows, unstoppable, tracks like Soldaten Satans, Extermination Angel, Forniotrs Weltenreise or my favorite, the track that closes the album, Morning Star Antropophagia, are undoubtedly among the craziest compositions this band has ever written!
Crescendos filled with virtuosity and sulfurous, atmospheric parts contribute to making the album a delicacy for those who love extreme metal—and music in general—with absolutely eclectic and heterogeneous shades, developing and at the same time maintaining the relentless ferocity that defines the album from start to finish. A grandguignolesque massacre in eight parts.
I am addicted to this album, but if you've made it here, I think that's more than implied by now! I always try to write little and communicate appropriately with my reviews, but in this case, it is impossible for me to hold back the desire to tell so passionately and in detail about the first, marvelous, extraordinary extreme metal masterpiece of this 2024.
An album that not only represents the inexhaustible creative vein of a legendary band but raises the stakes for all— from bands of similar caliber to newcomers—who still strive to keep alive and innovate this genre of music so challenging and unhealthy, trying to leave their name, their mark, engraved in what Abigor themselves define as supreme and immortal art.
Greetings to Debaser readers!
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