Abigor - Time Is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint (2010)

The one thing I've always admired about Abigor is that even though their music has always been within the black metal style they've never truly created the same record twice and album nine, 'Time Is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint' is surely no different, in fact it's the most diverse and challenging work from this legendary Austrian band yet.

Assuming you've heard the Abigor 7" LP, 'Shockwave 666' from '04 or their '07 full-length, 'Fractal Possession' then understanding this album will surely be a lot easier, because frankly so much is going on during this one that its nearly impossible to describe.

As a starter this time around the album consists of just two songs, which both clock in just a little under twenty minutes each for a grand total of thirty eight minutes of music. The music is highly complex, technical, extraordinary and largely remote, at first, with plenty of industrial and unique avant-garde characteristics right from the onset. These two songs lack almost all melodies and chances of catchiness in the traditional sense, which will either result in the long time fans such as myself constantly listening until it makes sense or others just simply giving up after a few spins. The thing is even after numerous listens you may not understand or notice all of the details of the album, but that's also one of the things that makes it so engaging and inviting for further listens.

One of the things from the last album was lots of random industrial, strange electronics and ambient bits here and there and once again all of that is here but put to better usage. The bass guitar is also a crucial part of this recording and its very audible and heavy presence works perfectly amongst these two lengthy avant-garde tracks. A.R.'s vocals are vastly improved as they range from deep growls, hellish screams, spoken word and even clearly sung passages while the drums are absolute and brutal, but honestly sound like they are programmed, but apparently that's not the case. Then the guitars as I've already said are devoid of catchy melodic riffs or solos, but still there's something about it that pulls you in and really grabs your attention.

Lastly the lyrics are about Satanism once again, not in a blasphemous way however, as they seem more theological like Deathspell Omega's masterwork, 'Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice.' It's hard to fully interpret them, but they revolve around Satan's influence on the cosmos and everything around us. Fascinating and highly sophisticated writings, indeed. Oh, and the album also comes housed in a luxurious clamshell box, which looks great, but probably wont fit on my CD shelf... nope, goddamn it!

Anyway, after numerous listens this album has really grown on me, but that's just the thing - it will take a hell of a lot of listens before you reach that point. Perhaps had the songs been split up into shorter sections or had they actually wrote another 15-18 minute song it may have made the whole thing a bit easier to grasp, but, fuck it, Abigor isn't going to make it easy on you punks.

It should be interesting to see where the band goes from here, because as always Abigor continues on and after a release like this they surely deserve to re-capture the attention and glory that nowadays their early releases only seem to get.

...Monument, o mighty monument of time!
we're marching through the ongoing passage of time
life eating... collapsing... drowning...
pointed but without origin
continuum... sequence... pendulum...