Abyssal Ascendant – Unleashing the Outer Plagues

13th May 2014 0 By Suzie Rottencrotch

Apart from death metal legends Gojira and the awesome Hacride (whose album, Back To Where You’ve Never Been, I reviewed last year) I know next to nothing about the French metal scene. So it’s always nice to get something new from France to review for All About The Rock.

Abyssal Ascendant sing about the mythos of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft – the Great Old Ones, their spawns, the abominations (finally) taking over mankind – and it’s a subject matter that perfectly fits with the death metal they play.

First track ‘Abysmal Cadavers Procession‘ starts with dark and eerie sounds that wouldn’t sound out of place in a horror film, and then the chuggingly heavy riffs, pounding drums, and guttural vocals kick in. It’s an aggressive yet atmospheric track, with a chaotic edge to it.

Abyssal Ascendant aren’t afraid to show their death metal influences, while managing to do their own thing. There are some elements of Bolt Thrower in second track, ‘Down to The Abyss‘, though the added layer of haunting chanting and sound effects in the background gives the track a unique sound. And the buzzsaw guitars of ‘Interdimensional Predation‘ remind me of the first Entombed album, but the pace and tone of the song are more along the lines of early Death.

‘Nightmarish Depths of the Outer Abomination‘ starts with more disturbing sound effects, before launching into a full blown technical death metal fest that is incredibly brutal. ‘Webcrafting The End‘ follows in a similar vein, though is slightly heavier and slower. Final track, ‘The Beyond One‘ is a great finish to the album – another fast and brutal track with some vocals that are almost black metal in places.

Do yourself a massive favour and get this EP. It is currently free to download from the Dolorem Records bandcamp page – or from the ‘media/music‘ section of the band’s own website (where you can also get the full colour pdf booklet which includes the lyrics).

The band have recently announced that they have started writing their first album. On the basis of Unleashing the Outer Plagues I will definitely be purchasing a copy of the album when it comes out.

Awesome stuff!

Score: 8.5 out of 10

ALBUM INFO

Tracklist

01. Abysmal Cadavers Procession
02. Down to The Abyss
03. Interdimensional Predation
04. Nightmarish Depths of the Outer Abomination
05. Webcrafting The End
06. The Beyond One

Release Date
October 6th 2013

Record Label
Dolorem Records

Links
http://doloremrecords.bandcamp.com/album/unleashing-the-outer-plagues-ep
http://abyssalascendant.com/
https://www.facebook.com/abyssal.ascendant.band