ABIGOR – Time is the Sulphur on the Veins of the Saint CD review

ABIGOR – Time is the Sulphur on the Veins of the Saint CD
End All Life Productions

It’s sad to say but I only have two releases by this Austrian Black Metal institution and those are from the 90s. I haven’t heard anything of theirs in over ten years. As far as their older material well Channeling the Quintessence of Satan from 1999 was a swift industrial kick in the genre’s backside. My all out favorite Nachthymnen from 1995 is simply brutal and surpasses the simplicity of what the Norwegians had previously done. So when I pushed play and heard the newer ABIGOR my first thought was should I be wearing a black wig and high on some designer drug? The term “cyber black metal” was coined back in the 90s so it seems that ABIGOR have taken that aesthetic to another level. This makes DODHEIMSGARD sound tame in comparison.

Time is the Sulphur on the Veins of the Saint contains two long tracks running close to the twenty minute mark. They are simply designated as “Track I” and “Track II”. Actually you can hear multiple tracks spliced within each which then are tied together. Both cuts are layered with industrial/experimental intensities which push this into a chaotic mess. There’s some blackness buried under the eclectic acid jazz which is what most of their music consists of. I give credit to drummer Thomas Tannenberger for keeping things grounded and interesting. TT assaults with blast beats which run into complex jazz runs which reminds me of Bill Bruford. If it wasn’t for his pounding I would’ve drifted off in a hypnotic trance. Arthur Rosar’s vocals vary in style which is a complete change from the past. No more BURZUM-ish schrieking like their previous vocalists. Rosar spends most of the time howling like a ninety year old lady who still smokes two packs a day. Peter Kubik is still the Robert Fripp of Black Metal. At times he sounds as if he’s wearing metal gloves to achieve some of the more shrill noise.

There are two types of music. One is the stuff you actually enjoy listening to. The other is technically brilliant of the avant garde fair which you name drop to snobs but you never really listen to. This new ABIGOR release falls into the latter category. Years ago critics use to sing the praises of bands like ARTURUS and VIRUS for their advancements in progressing the Black Metal genre into an industrial waste pool with a KING CRIMSON rubber ducky. Probably the critics of today will be more in tuned to this than I since for them anything other than “plain o’l black metal” is the thing. As for me well it’s an interesting dink but I’m simply a Neanderthal now pardon me while I throw on some PROFANATICA.

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