What?: The second of a planned "come back" trilogy of albums by Texas extreme metal band Absu.
Why?: Someone at work lent me a pile of music to listen to. This stuck out as being of particularly high quality. I also had the privilege of seeing the band live in early 2012 and they were incredible.
Tell me more!: I really enjoy this album. It's full of amazingly clear speed metal riffs and some great acoustic work, varied enough to constantly keep my interest until suddenly it's over, not overstaying it's welcome after a short 36 minutes. I almost always listen to it twice.
They are an incredible live band, almost as tight as they are on the CD. When I saw them at the East Brunswick I was surprised to see they were a three piece, with a singing drummer.
The band have, according to most reviews and Wikipedia, as very deep and well thought out philosophy behind their albums. This album is the second of a trilogy. To be honest, I don't want to know. One of my favourite bands (Secret Chiefs 3) have a similarly long explanation behind their music but... I just don't care. One day, maybe.
The music is great, why read?
Live, the drummer talks the same way he sings, which is a bit like a someone trying to sound like a demon. This is hilarious. I'm sure there is a note of humour behind this band. The first song on the album starts with a very high scream from the singer that at most is deliberately funny, at worst is deliberately fun. Surely?
The production is spot-on, reproducing their live sound perfectly. The guitars are raw but clear. Rarely (never?) doubled. Sometimes some keyboard will fill the gaps but rarely.
There are six songs on this disc, but I couldn't tell you which was which. I can't listen to the songs by themselves, it's the album, or nothing.
7/10: Recommended, but having to listen to the whole disc is a little impractical. The singer is occasionally tedious.
[A slight moment to explain]: My gut says this album is worth more than 7 out of 10, but I'm leaving myself room for the hundreds of CDs to come. I'm trying to avoid the review cycle which ends up giving scores only between 6 and 9, rarely anything lower. 7/10, in this review world, is GOOD.
I also reserve the right to go back and review my scores as often as I relisten, rethink, relike, rehate.