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JOHANSSON & SPECKMANN
Edge Of The Abyss

Soulseller (2016)
Rating: 9/10

Edge Of The Abyss is the third outing from death metal duo Rogga Johansson (guitar and bass, Paganizer) and Paul Speckmann (vocals, Master), and follows on from 2015’s superb Mask Of The Treacherous. There was no way that with such legendary performers involved that Edge Of The Abyss was going to be anything but superb.

Accompanied by Brynjar Helgetun (drums) and Kjetil Lynghaug (lead guitar), Johansson & Speckmann have churned out another mini-masterpiece that will probably be overlooked by many and yet rarely will you hear – in this day and age – such a masterclass in rattling death metal. Of course, for those of you without a head you may not realise who Rogga Johansson and Paul Speckmann are, but they have a discography a majority of death metal musicians can only dream of.

It’s no surprise then that Edge Of The Abyss rumbles with that same sort of arrogance and old school prowess. We get nine, very much to the point aggressive numbers all featuring Speckmann’s distinctive evil drool and a monstrous percussive assault sure to resort you to a jabbering wreck.

The quality on offer here just cannot be dismissed. After just one listen, I was hooked; addicted to those catchy yet volatile rhythms, battered by Brynjar Helgetun’s drums and skewered upon those infectious leads. With so many modern bands eager to replicate that old school feel, these guys don’t even need to think about it. It comes natural, and all you can do is soak yourself in the aggressive juices which flow from ‘Perpetuate The Lie’, ‘Turn It Around’, ‘A Concept’ and my favourite slab of fast-paced brilliance in ‘Misanthropy’.

There’s just no let up from the aggression but there’s so much variety, particularly in the opening strains of ‘Turn It Around’ which has an almost black metal aesthetic with its ashen chords before transforming itself into a mighty chunk of groove metal. Meanwhile, ‘The Last Witness Is Barely Alive’ takes us back to the gruesome days of the mid-80s; ‘The Last Witness Is Barely Alive’ is a rotten, spewing and festering lump of grotesque metal where Speckmann really comes into his own lyrically, his gargles full of bile and vomit. The wretched wall of sound behind him is such a juddering yet concise mess that one can only listen agog at the knowing arrogance.

‘Already In Disguise’ filters the same classic death metal nuances, but there’s such a hefty amount of pace throughout this platter that one feels as if they’ve taken a blood-soaked time machine back to those halcyon days of early death metal rumblings.

Mixing frenetic thrash blasts and graven death metal warbles, Johansson & Speckmann have once again carved out a menacing, spiteful and big-headed slab of noise that only a fool can ignore.

Neil Arnold

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