Review by Daniel for Abruptum - Obscuritatem advoco amplectére me (1993)

The debut album from this cult Swedish artist is one of the weirdest & most ambitious metal-related releases you're ever likely to hear. It comprises of two enormously challenging 25+ minute pieces that seem to be completely improvised. If they're not then I have no idea how they were composed. They also bring into question the concept of what constitutes music because there's some absolutely random shit going on here & it often has nothing whatsoever to do with traditional musical theory. The idea of calling this a black metal or black noise release is questionable at best in my opinion too. There's no doubt that the First Wave of Black Metal sounds of early Sodom & Hellhammer (particularly "Triumph of Death") played a big role in Abruptum's DNA but there's simply so much more that falls WWAAYYY outside of conventional metal ideals going on here. In fact, I'd hazard to describe "Obscuritatem advoco amplectère me" as experimental/psychedelic noise rock meets avant-garde metal. Much of the admittedly pretty doomy guitar work is comprised of feedback & dissonant attacks on open strings which leaves the aesthetic sounding far more Bauhaus than Bathory while a lot of the drumming sits closer to rock than it does to metal. But then you'll get these sudden bursts of unaccompanied blast beats here & there & psychotic vocals that remind me of the Japanese extreme metal scene or a very young Tom Angelripper (Sodom). It's certainly noisy stuff but can I really say this is black noise? I don't think I'd say it's genuine noise music OR black metal to be honest. I think people are simply clutching at straws in a vain attempt to label this musical cacophony which is far more interesting than it is enjoyable.

For fans of Emit, Gnaw Their Tongues & Enbilulugugal.