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ABYTHIC
Eden Of The Doomed EP

Iron Bonehead Productions (2022)
Rating: 7.5/10

I introduce to you, dear readers, the new EP from German death metallers Abythic, a combo that’s released three-full length platters since 2018. Eden Of The Doomed Is a three-song affair for fans of mid-tempo chugging death metal with doomy aspects.

Vocalist Killrich (aka Ulrich Kreienbrink) has been with the band for two years now and I like his style of bellowing, which is deep, phlegm-coated and evil-sounding and matches the drudgery of the music perfectly.

This is evidenced with the sluggish opening track, ‘Revelation From The Great Vastness Thereafter’, which never reaches any sort of pace until three-quarters of the way through, but for the most part it sticks to a heavy, gnashing dynamic at its core. The band has a strong 90s flavour, flirting with Finnish death metal properties married with Floridian darkness, and I’m drawn in deeper by some of the melancholic axe work and the crushing percussion of Thym (aka Tim Schlichting).

Second track, ‘Conquest Of The One True Creed’, brings a consistent mashing of instruments fused with slower, jagged assaults, but it’s still relatively mid-paced death metal with nice melodic flavours thrown in, more so from the solos which harkens to a sombre streak.

Abythic has always been a consistent band, so although you sort of know what’s coming you still get bludgeoned to death by the fleshy dynamics on offer. However, I do prefer those slower, menacing segments and passages of foreboding atmosphere which act with doomy nuances.

‘Victory In Your Eden Of The Damned’ continues the steamroller effect, hinting at a Bolt Thrower-style of suffocating grinding but remaining robust and destructive. The track builds slowly from a voice sample and then those fully armoured trudges take over, laced with those feisty, cavernous grunts.

Abythic is probably at its catchiest within this trio of tracks, but never have I heard them sound so doom-drenched and sinister. And as another spectral chord wafts in funereal aplomb, I can only succumb to the intense battering these guye create, all the while remaining somewhat reflective in their juggernaut ploughing.

In spite of the strong doomy details, Eden Of The Doomed is a simplistic and often stark expression but one which weighs heavy throughout.

Neil Arnold

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