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Release Date: 2005 Record Label: Osmose Productions Track list: Disc Two: Band Website: Absu |
Absu - Mythological Occult Metal 1991-2001 A time comes in the life of most great bands when it becomes necessary to dredge up their past for all the miscellaneous tracks they've relegated to compilations, limited 7” singles, or just the dusty depths of some forgotten vault, and throw them all together on a nice shiny compact disc or two. These resulting collections can range from unlistenable to downright brilliant and anywhere in between. In the case of Absu's Mythological Occult Metal, the result is mostly quite good, if a little disjointed. The first three tracks here are from numerous compilations. “The Golden Torques of Ulaid” being the most sought after, since its only previous appearance was on the rather elusive Gummo soundtrack album. The next two tracks have appeared elsewhere in the band's discography in different form, but it's cool to have these alternate versions anyway. Next up is the very first officially released Absu recording, The Temples of Offal. This 1991 EP is their only available output not to feature Proscriptor and, as such, is much different. This is pure old-school death metal, in the vein of Grave and Nihilist. Obviously it's fucking great stuff, very dark and occult sounding. Then there's a later EP, featuring two long black metal epics. This one was recorded somewhere between The Sun of Tiphareth and The Third Storm of Cythraul and fits well between those two stylistically. It's thrashier than The Sun… yet more epic and Third Storm... Rounding out disc one is the previously unreleased Hallstattian Swords EP. This is a really weird one – first, it's not metal, but ambient synth music. Second, only the first song is actually written by Proscriptor. The other two tracks are credited to “Bard Algol Eriboas” and “Black Massith” respectively, so really this would have made more sense if it had been released as a side project. But as it is, it remained hidden until this compilation, so maybe the band realized that anyway. Disc two is somewhat less interesting, but still great. We get four covers, all of which rule (although “Bestial Invasion” has very rough rehearsal-room 4-track production), four live tracks complete with Mezzadurus's insane shrieking between songs, and two instrumental demo tracks which are quite cool. For Absu beginners, this is definitely not a good place to start, but for fans it's an essential purchase. I should also mention the mastering job is excellent and the packaging is rather cool too, if a little minimal in the artwork department.
April 27th, 2006 |
    
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