An Abstract Illusion – Woe
An Abstract Illusion – Woe
Willowtip Records
Release Date: 09/09/2022
Running Time: 59:50
Review by Richard Oliver
9/10
Extreme Metal and Progressive music have been bedfellows for a good while now with countless bands mixing elements of Progressive and Psychedelic music with Black and Death Metal. Just when you think you have heard the best this mix of styles and genres has to offer then another band comes along and blows you away. That band is An Abstract Illusion who hail from Sweden and are releasing their second full length album “Woe”.
An Abstract Illusion spread across the space of seven songs and a running time of just under an hour an ever-shifting maze of thinking man’s Extreme Metal with Death Metal and Black Metal sounds interspersed with Progressive Rock and Electronica. The album ebbs, flows, shifts and changes into various moods and atmospheres with bone shattering heaviness sitting comfortably alongside luscious melody and serene moments of calm. It’s a lot to digest especially as the album works as one singular piece split into seven parts with all songs flowing into each other.
‘Slaves’ and ‘Tear Down This Holy Mountain’ are lengthy compositions which contain all the elements that An Abstract Illusion bring to the table and are gorgeous yet crushing pieces of music which take you on a lengthy and vivid journey. ‘Biomsterkrans’ provides a much-needed respite being a very melodic and serene instrumental with spoken word samples before the might of ‘In The Heavens Above, You Will Become a Monster’ which goes straight for the jugular with its all-out ferocity. It’s the lengthiest song on the album and shifts into more melodic and atmospheric territories as it progresses whilst losing none of its intensity. My personal highlight is the gorgeous ‘Prosperity’’ with its stunning use of clean vocals, driving riffing, pummelling rhythm and tranquil outro. The album concludes with another long composition with ‘This Torment Has No End, Only New Beginnings’ which is far more on the atmospheric, emotional and melodic side though still with its Extreme Metal leanings. It brings the album to a hugely satisfying conclusion.
“Woe” is to put it simply an absolutely stunning album. Similarities can be drawn to other bands who play this style of Metal but An Abstract Illusion do it in such breath-taking style that it is impossible to get drawn in and dive headfirst down the rabbit hole into the stunning soundscape that the ban have created. The performances are breath-taking, the song writing is sublime and the album sounds massive. If bands such as Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Persefone, Disillusion and Wilderun are your bag then “Woe” is a must hear release.
‘In The Heavens Above, You Will Become A Monster’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. The Behemoth That Lies Asleep
02. Slaves
03. Tear Down This Holy Mountain
04. Prosperity
05. Biomsterkrans
06. In The Heavens Above, You Will Become a Monster
07. This Torment Has No End, Only New Beginnings
LINE-UP:
Karl Westerlund – Guitars & Bass
Robert Stenvall – Keyboards & Vocals
Christian Berglönn – Vocals
Leith Ajob – Drums (Session)
LINKS:
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