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Rating: It's inevitable when talking about the early Abruptum to reflect on the concept of Black Metal; unfortunately, there isn't enough space here for a full discussion, but I think some observations are necessary.
A good number of bands consider this genre as free from technicalities and formal complexity, instead giving free rein to the emotions that this music should evoke: it's clear that from this perspective, Black Metal has much more in common with Ambient than it does with Heavy Metal. As we delve deeper into the underground, it becomes apparent that most bands have embraced this minimalism, this desire to hide their image, this opposition to the conventionality of Rock.
Abruptum were among the bands that best represented this philosophy (of life as much as musical): this album comes after other demos that paved the way towards an exit from conventional Black Metal (understood as the thematic extremity of death metal) and best symbolizes the sonic path undertaken by this Swedish duo (It, on vocals, and Evil - namely Morgan from Marduk - on instruments).
"Obscuritatem Avoco Amplectere Me" is a truly original work; the influences are there, certainly, but they are twisted and reinterpreted in a truly personal way: Abruptum's music has great coherence, but it is probably this very quality that will lead the group to a cul-de-sac.
The album consists of two tracks, not very different from each other, each lasting 25 minutes. We are talking about music that's hard to define in words, encapsulating the pioneering spirit of Black Metal, made up of screams, distortions, extremism, with the typical reflective progression (even though the term might seem out of place here) of Ambient music: we could easily speak of Dark Ambient if this term wasn't so overused today to mean something else (i.e., Ambient played with synthesizers but mainly by exponents of extreme music). Abruptum: in other words, the Bauhaus dealing with the experimental "cacophonous" suites of the Soft Machine from Third... exaggerating the noise of the former and ominously expanding the structures of the latter (I'm obviously referring to the more jam-session pieces of the English band). Their music has neither head nor tail, has no real purpose, as it eliminates the song form that would link this genre (and any other) to the canons of Rock/Pop (of which Metal is a sonic evolution).
Solutions drawn from the hidden corners of the mind, litanies, and cries characterize this offering: compared to the next, this album is more sincere, spontaneous, less contrived. Setting aside the legends about the "performances" associated with the studio recording, the album exudes despair from every pore. And this is its advantage over the successor, where the same sonic exploration leads to an opposite, faded result precisely because it emerges from consideration. Let's be clear right from the start: Abruptum don't play music. It would be unfair to say so. "They create experiences", letting the instruments speak, using the voice as an accompanying element. The ambient component is really pronounced: massive use of keyboards, albeit according to noise rather than orchestral-like standards (like Symphonic Black).
The result is fantastic... but only for the duration of the first track. The weakness of Abruptum lies in having turned a "drive of the spirit" into a cliché... and from the very first album, no less! They didn't even wait for the second! The futility of repeating the same musical approach on both sides is obvious, and it detracts prestige from an album that otherwise (that is, experimenting on other paths) would be the apotheosis of the genre. This flaw seems to magnify when we reflect calmly; Abruptum dangerously float halfway between multiple sub-genres (Ambient, Extreme Music, Noise): such uniformity would be appreciated in a genre like Drone, where the coordinates are now fixed and clear, where holding the same note for 50 minutes is not a limitation as much as (if done well) a requirement. In a genre that doesn't even exist like that of Abruptum, continuing to repeat a winning idea is but a limitation.
The listening to Obscuritatem, however, is not precluded by this digression of mine, given that the final result is decidedly high. It's just that there's regret for a missed opportunity. Great nonetheless.
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