By Kat Preston
With the series title and manifesto “without music life would be a mistake" coined from Neitzsche, Hypertension Records presents The Abyss Stares Back. This collective effort of five releases spans eight months and will bring out some of the most beautifully crafted and coordinated post-doom tracks from a unique handful of renowned artists including Scott Kelly, Amenra, VVOUNDS, Nihil, Primitive Man and the ever-evil Alkerdeel.
Creeping in a on a screech of feedback, Primitive Man conjure just under ten minutes of the purest blackest horror with 'Unable', leaving you drenched in a disgusting mixture blood and rust, rumbling along and encouraging you to reel further in it's putrid brilliance. In fact, this may have gone beyond the point of ultimate blackness to discover an altogether rib-shattering, gut-shredding new level of sound. Bugger me with a jackhammer, this is nasty, and I love it.
Now, I've tried Hessian in the past and not quite clicked with them, but 'Inward Dawn' is a truly majestic, metallic beauty of a song that I never want to end. Ever. With balled fists and a look of complete satisfaction, I'm sat here just basking in the internal warmth only such an incredible song can bring (aided slightly by a Fiat Punto with no air conditioning crawling along the North Circular). Enchantment doesn't often come packaged in such a haunting cloak of magnificence, so I would advise you to act fast on this release, as Hypertension Records have vowed it will be a one off, never re-pressed effort.
Coming out the other side of this, I think I may have transcended reality and found myself adrift in a parallel world where this will be providing the much appreciated soundtrack to my summer. Right, I'm off to find some woods to sit in and listen to this, and let it sink in fully. See you in November.
FFO: Corrupt Moral Altar, Amenra, anything dark and Belgian (not the chocolate).
