Louvado Abismo – Louvado Abismo
Louvado Abismo – Louvado Abismo
Half Beast Records
Release Date: 31/05/24
Running Time: 39:52
Review by Dark Juan
Score: 10/10
(Feel free to skip this first paragraph as there’s nothing remotely related to the music in here as usual- Ed)
Hello, all my chums around the world. I am Dark Juan, and this review is late. Not because I am (although this is true of me) a fundamentally lazy bastard and indeed as louche as can be, but rather more because I have worked six days out of seven and I have been a bit tired and my poor brain has not been able to cope with coming up with entertaining and amusing metaphors for your delectation because it is stuffed to fucking bursting with operational and staffing concerns, two days’ worth of training on Child Criminal Exploitation (actually, this was quite useful because I now know how to set up an entire business model, complete with learning about pitfalls I can now avoid, on the basis of a County Lines system. Watch this space!), a 24 hour on-call period in which I was obliged to go into work on a day off, had an argument with my sister, visited Mater and Pater and then did a 48-hour shift whilst simultaneously trying to complete a Degree-level course. This has not left much time or energy for music. However, Dark Juan is no fucking quitter and has an actual full day off and therefore has abandoned Mrs Dark Juan in favour of the holy sounds of Metal. Who cares about maintaining my relationship? Let us fire up the Platter of Splatter™ and hear the stylings of Portuguese insaniacs Louvado Abismo, on their self-titled debut album…
My immediate and overriding response to the music of Louvado Abismo is that vocalist and all-round terrifying person Patrícia needs to be put in a fucking straitjacket for the good of society, as her wide-eyed, open throated, yet curiously sensual delivery is equal parts scary Siouxsie sexiness and spit-flecked jabbering insanity. If you imagine Cold In Berlin hepped up to fuck on dex and fronted by American avant-garde one-woman vocal freakshow Diamanda Galás, you’ll get an idea of the vocals on this record. Interestingly, Patrícia is a stage actress as well as a singer, and her theatrical training really enhances her vocal delivery and the drama of the band, her being able to clearly and scarily emote as she sings adding a whole new dynamic to the band. She’s an absolute fucking peach of a frontwoman and a focal point for the band that commands your attention with ease.
That isn’t to say the rest of the band are resting on their laurels and letting Patrícia do all the heavy lifting. Their unusual and exciting combination of Post-Punk, Metal and Industrial with a sharp and serrated Gothic edge is doing things to Dark Juan’s spine that is making him purr like a fucking pussycat. Mrs Dark Juan has just asked why I am sitting with my eyes closed and a massive rictus grin on my face (she is baking bread today, in a welcome change from creating pieces of art that stop me from sleeping at night). I told her I was listening to the perfect soundtrack to my internal monologue. She replied that it must be truly fucking demented then and left to deliver bread to her daughter and told Dark Juan that she expected to find him in a frigid cold shower when she got home, lest I become overexcited again. The music is fucking awesome, with a very raw production that adds considerable power to it, the music being a right melting pot of all the things that Dark Juan finds absolutely fucking wonderful – blending Christian Death with Siouxsie and the Banshees, or even Godflesh with Killing Joke, Swans and Ministry and having a really kind of 80s Gothic feel around it, despite the heaviness of the guitar sound, which is raw as fuck and smacks the listener in the face like the blastwave of a thousand-pound bomb. It’s a very loud recording, everything turned up to the max, acrid electrical smoke and the tang of ozone, mixed with clove cigarettes and woody perfumes and human sweat from overdriven human flesh in endless and passionate copulation… That isn’t to say that it is entirely without subtlety though – Patrícia being able to change from batshit multiple murderer to winsome courtesan in the blink of an eye, being able to switch from melancholic sweetness and gentleness personified to frighteningly committed and heavily armed serial killer with ease. The bass playing of Hélder Luís is also mightily noteworthy, his bottom end being almost cinematic with intricate layers and textures – like an artillery barrage heard from a distance, but slowly creeping toward you under walking fire doctrines…
To try to sum up this most esoteric of albums then: Patrícia’s vocals, sung in Portuguese with theatrical intensity, serve as the central character of the lyrics. Ranging from strong and shouty to sweet and melancholic, her voice guides the listener through an abyss of formless and surreal space where thoughts take shape in disturbing and eldritch ways, evoking shivers and transcending mere musical expressionism. Truly, this is an unsettling and visceral record, but not because of mere power, ‘Ausente’ in particular reminding this reviewer of ‘Paranoia Part II’ by Hawkwind in parts because of its unusual instrumentation and slowly pulsing bassline but broken up with some staggeringly beautiful and melancholic playing throughout the rest of the tune, cello wailing and violin crying.
The album is a set of ten songs that seem to work more as a conceptual work and plunges the listeners into a black hole, where the decompensated human mind is the universe, portraying madness and transmitting visions and sensations that envelop and consume the body. The only problem for this poorly educated reviewer is that the songs are sung in Portuguese and Dark Juan has no fucking idea what is being sung about, so saying the album is a conceptual work is based entirely on the feeling that Dark Juan has experienced while listening to this jaw-dropping piece of work.
Dark Juan is in love again. This time it’s serious.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (O sistema patenteado de classificação de respingos de sangue Dark Juan. Saudações, meus maravilhosos irmãos e irmãs portugueses e brasileiros! Olá do Reino Unido! Eu escrevi isso com o Google Translate, então provavelmente está muito errado, mas não me importo porque é um presente poder falar com você no idioma que você entende, em vez das bobagens de Yorkshire!) awards Louvado Abismo the full beans, 10/10 for a fucking amazing album.
Can’t say fairer than that!
TRACKLISTING:
01. Louvado Abismo
02. Alma Incandescente
03. Corrida Lenta
04. Espuma
05. Bons Ventos
06. Vazio
07. Dois Sóis
08. Corpo Inerte
09. Mundo
10. Ausente
LINE-UP:
Patrícia Andrade – Vocals
Hugo Conim – Guitars
Pedro Almeida – Drums
Hélder Luís – Bass
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.