Abruptum
In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumpho Tenebraum

In 1994, the second LP of Abruptum, "In Umbra maliziae bla bla bla", was released by Euronymous's Deathlike Silence (Mayhem), even more extreme, even loooooooonnnnnggggeeeerrr.

The band at the time included Evil on instruments and It "too evil to have a human name" (his own words) on "vocals."

Recovered from the drunkenness of success of the previous LP "Obscuritatem avoco amplectère me" - rumors circulate that Evil even managed to sell a copy of the CD to his singer - the Swedish duo returns to the studio to record this sequel.

(Almost) Everything as before: a dark ambient version of black metal, background screams, very slow guitar strumming, use of a solo drum to cover vocals and instruments...but the record is muuuch uglier than the previous one, more calculated. As soon as Abruptum decides to take things seriously, they stumble: the riffs are more orderly and give the song (a single one, 60 minutes!!!) an appearance of coherence, the singer even sings at times (which wouldn't be strange elsewhere), the ambient atmosphere of the first LP disappears completely, created with keyboard effects (chains, disturbing noises) or the voice (legend had it that the singer subjected himself to various cuts to produce those excruciating sounds).

It seems like a record made to massively expand its (underground) audience, offering them something more approachable...one question lingers: who the hell had bought the previous record to give them this conviction?!?!?!?

I won't give a rating, as none of you will care. The previous one, however, was very beautiful, difficult but truly successful.