Abyssic - Brought Forth in Iniquity (2022)

It is hard to innovate in Metal these days, however, there are always bands like Abyssic that take known formulas and greatly improve on them with their highly eerie Symphonic Doom/Death Metal. With “Brought Forth in Iniquity”, the band’s sophomore release, Memnoch and company craft over 50 minutes of highly atmospheric and very crushing music that greatly improves over their first release.

Opening with the decadence of “Cold as Winter Storm”, we are introduced to a perfectly balanced old-school Funeral-ish Death/Doom Metal with a huge atmospheric component. This atmosphere is quite cinematic and it feels like a black and white horror movie, making songs like “Mirror of Sorrow” and “Djevelens Lys” deliver a truly immersive and imposing experience. The band features members like Memnoch (ex-Susperia) and Tjodalv (ex-Dimmu Borgir) and they bring their years of songwriting experience together in a very cohesive and engaging way.

As the release closes with the gargantuan “Brought Forth in Iniquity”, an 18-minute long track, a very adorned Funeral Death/Doom Metal experience is unleashed upon the listener. Instead of having those long and at times dragging riffing passages, the band nicely adds imposing orchestrations, subtle piano passages, and crafty arrangements, courtesy of André Aaslie and a diverse amount of synths, mellotron and minimoog. This is definitely one of the most unique elements of the band.

Overall, “Brought Forth in Iniquity” is a very lively and yet heavy and dense release that fans of both (heavier) Symphonic Metal and Death/Doom will greatly appreciate. Abyssic is a relentless outfit with a constellation of experienced musicians and a very unique and powerful sound. If you haven’t been exposed to the somber compositions, wait no longer and pick up a copy of this release.

Label: Osmose Productions

Release: October 28th, 2022

Genre: Symphonic Doom/Death Metal

Country: Norway