Absu - The Sun of Tiphareth (1995)

This is the album where Absu went full bore "blick" metal and guess what? I actually liked it! Perhaps it was the Celtic mysticism abound within the lyrics or maybe it was the fact that they were actually playing fucking SONGS here instead of a couple of chumps mindlessly beating on a snare and chilling on an open 'E' ala Transylvanian Hunger era Darkthrone.

This was one of the first (and to this day, few) black metal albums that I couldn't help but get into.Though I (and many others, for that matter) refer to Absu as being a black metal band, they've always had more of a thrashier aesthetic than your typical black metal band not to mention a healthy grasp on atmosphere. Normally I'm not too heavy on the black metal style of singing as I find it to be ultra weak compared to the triumphant command of a good death metal vocalist (such as David Vincent's performance on Morbid Angel's 'Covenant'). Proscriptor's rasp, however, is bizarre enough that it works. Nothing sounds out of place here and I honestly couldn't imagine anyone else singing over this album (or Absu in general).

Lyrically, Absu is unrivaled. Proscriptor clearly knows his shit and everything is exceptionally written beyond that.

Everytime some dumbass Norwegian talks shit about 'U.S. black metal' I am delighted within to know that Absu thoroughly smashes all that country has to offer in terms of opposition. Don't get me me wrong, 90% of U.S. black metal is as gay as the majority of their global counterparts but Absu is an exceptional band, period, regardless of their chosen musical genre.

Absu - Barathrum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (1993)

Not quite black metal but almost there!

Apparently a lot of the fags over in Norway cried about Absu not being "true" enough to be considered "blick" metal. Thank fucking crikey for that! Way too many bands had by that time, totally fagged out and jumped on that big, sore ridden nigger cock also known as black metal. Absu, of course, was testing the waters, though apparently unwilling to commit to a full on sex change as Barathrum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L. isn't a complete and total fagtastic exercise in treason and betrayal.

Much of the album is actually quite evil sounding... infinitely more evil sounding than any-fucking-thing to ever have dribbled back out of Norway's shredded arse. In terms of grim atmosphere, so-called "true" black metal doesn't have a fucking prayer against material such as this. In fact, the sound and rhythmic technique on Barathrum isn't far removed from that of Immolation or Incantation. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely "slices" of the faggishness of black metal scattered throughout this album as you can tell the band was itching to jump out of the closet, but thankfully, the influence and cavernous gloom of the band's earlier material proved too much to overcome.

Unfortunately, the vocals are completely blackened. It's as if the vocalist was being beaten and sodomized by his pimp whilst being recorded in the studio. That much I'm sure the Norwegians could relate to and admire. Of course, as I mentioned, the music of Barathrum wasn't a complete embrace of all things homosexual, which undoubtedly and ultimately earned Absu the collective ire of their Scandinavian counterparts.

All in all, aside from the wretched bitch vocals, this is actually a rather decent album and as the Norwegians themselves are won't to do, I pretend to myself that the faggy rasp that serves to erroneously embellish the music is similar to the vocals pioneered by the elder gods such as Bathory and Sodom. Hey, whatever gets you by, right?

Absu - The Temples of Offal (1992)

This is some pretty fucking brutal shit right here. You can forget about all the blackened/thrash that Absu is primarily known for. In fact, this was released before Proscriptor was a gleam in Russley Given's eye.

I may never fully comprehend why Absu decided to abandon this style in favor of the black metal trend that was gaining considerable momentum in those early years, but I do know that The Temples of Offal is one of those creative gems that for some reason or another was decidedly cast away and banished to relative obscurity. Tsk, tsk. Had Absu remained on this particular path, they could've rivaled even the great Suffocation as the most accurate comparison I could think of would be that band's 1991 'ep', 'Human Waste'. Of course Absu walked a darker path both lyrically and thematically, though music-wise their intentions were no less barbaric than their Long Island counterparts. The main difference here would be that Absu's preferred method of attack was a bit more straightforward, whereas Suffocation had always favored a more technical approach.

The vocals, while brutal, aren't quite as drastic sounding as Frank Mullen's were in those days. Regardless, they fit the music perfectly and are among the more convincing in terms of the demonic majesty one should expect when listening to death metal.

As brutal and aggressive as the material on this 'ep' is, there is an unmistakable and gloomy atmosphere that surrounds it as well, not unlike early Incantation or Sweden's Crematory.

Even though much has been said throughout the years about the "evil" of black metal, etc... I have always known in my heart that that unfortunate style of music could never hold up against the gloom and the grime of classic death metal such as this, in terms of horrific atmospherics. Granted, I actually like much of Absu's more "blackened" catalog, but even that cannot compare to the hideous journey into the macabre that is The Temples of Offal. Interestingly enough, Absu's initiation into the circle of black metal would not take place until the arrival of drummer/lyricist/vocalist Russ Givens (-aka- Proscriptor) whose previous band Magus was equally as gloomy and cavernous as Absu in those early years, if not more so.