Black Abyss
Land Of Darkness

Here is another band that wants to harm itself. Why create an album like this? But have they listened to it again?

Despite what the moniker might suggest, Black Abyss play heavy/power metal and hail from Germany. This "Land Of Darkness," the band's second full length album, was released in 2000 following "Why," a record I personally cannot trace in any way.

Drawing inspiration from the genre's Teutonic masters (Gamma Ray and Rage, primarily), these musicians, led by singer Oliver Hornung, are one of those bands convinced that if they string together three powerful and "dark" riffs, they've created a song. It's a discussion I have already addressed negatively with Destiny's End.

What leaves a bitter taste is the realization that the German band is also technically well-off, not counting the singing that sometimes makes you wince (but quite a bit). Endlessly repetitive riffs ("Black Mirror"), pronunciation that in certain songs is laughable, lack of courage in proposing noteworthy solos that consequently lead the songs to have a general flatness that is sometimes embarrassing. So on with the choruses blasted billions of times to "fill" the tracks. When instead the band manages to put into practice the teachings of good Kai Hansen and combine them with the typical power of Blind Guardian, something good comes out. The opener "Eye Of The Storm" is acceptable, as is the concluding title track. It is precisely in these two songs that the creative vein of the Germans emerges, managing to put together even some "presentable" choruses.

There is something good, but it is an end in itself and has already been heard in the past. I am sure that when you listen to the cover of "The Trooper" (Iron Maiden), your arms will fall. Musically good but sung in a manner that is rather dreadful.

These Black Abyss are a technically valid group but become entrenched in a song structure based solely on the alternation of fast riffs aiming to create a "dark" soundscape. Lacking pathos, lacking ideas, lacking something innovative overall. Coupled with a poor production and a singer not up to par, they cannot help but be dismissed.

1- "Eye Of The Storm" (4:32)
2- "Black Mirror" (3:55)
3- "Chainbreaker" (5:31)
4- "Burning Bridges" (4:57)
5- "Frozen Tears" (5:05)
6- "Hunted Forever" (5:25)
7- "The Trooper" (4:26)
8- "The Missing Link" (5:11)
9- "Betrayer" (3:34)
10- "Land Of Darkness" (6:18)