Album Review: Abduction – Existentialismus (Candlelight)

UK extreme metallers Abduction will release their highly anticipated new album, Existentialismus, on 21st February 2025, via Candlelight.

Extreme music has never sounded so appealing as it does on this new Abduction record. A band synonymous with bleak and black brutality, they continue to push the boundaries of metal with Existentialismus. Not only finding deeper and darker depths to explore but showcasing a more introspective soundscape. This is Abduction at their most personal, stripped back in grisly style, but retaining all the fire and fury that long term fans have come to expect.

Abduction reborn? No. Abduction evolved? Somewhat. What we have here is Abduction energised by a different approach, and the result is simply spectacular.

It begins with a beast of a track that draws deeply from the well of blackness. So deep that listening to it will make you feel damned, provided you can withstand the barrage of speed and heaviness that comes from it. It is an unrelentingly savage experience, yet running through it is a captivating vein of emotion. The vocal roars and screams are powerful, but pained, vocalist and founder A|V has never sounded as authentic as he does here on A Legacy of Sores,

Blacker than the void between worlds, Pyramidia Liberi challenges traditional black metal structures as Abduction skillfully switch tempos and showcase monolithic moments of heaviness. It’s a ‘peaks and valleys’ kind of track with elaborate twists, but with the driving force of blackened savagery at the forefront. Hugely enjoyable, and followed by the immense Truth is as Sharp a Sword as Vengeance. Which is one of the finest Abduction tracks to date.

All because there haven’t been many tracks from this band as expressive as this. From its disconcerting and horror-infused start. To its first eruption of intensity (and all that follow), the melodic touches that give it so much more power, and the overall epic vibe it has. This is special and showcases a band pushing itself to the limits. You can feel it all.

That’s the summation of the album though, extreme metal that you can feel far beyond expressions of anger, hate, and frustration. While it is as heavy as anything in this genre and anything Abduction have released before, it’s so much more, and that is what makes it so special. It’s what makes it so listenable, what gives it replay value, and what ensures all who listen will joyfully go deeper into the void with the band. There is no ‘one and done’ when you’ve got the likes of Blau ist die Farbe der Ewigkeit and Razors of Occam to experience over and over again.

A waking nightmare? Some may see it as such, but in other’s eyes, this is the stuff of black metal dreams. Where the latter of those two tracks can add atmosphere, deliver enigmatic melody, and still be vibrantly intense. If you want to hear a more evolved Abduction sound, this track has some surprises for you, least of all the dramatic start.

Fear not, it is still feral and blackened to its core and sits comfortable alongside the emphatic finale of Vomiting at Baalbek. A riotous explosion of fire and fury, twisted by a mentality that has gone to very dark places. Places that would consume most, yet, here Abduction stands having released (arguably) their ‘magnum opus’. Its relevancy will only grow as the years tick by, and even though it might come from a personal place, it is exceptionally relatable.

I’m saying it. It’s the best thing they’ve created because it feels so complete. It is like this album was always going to happen, it was just a matter of time.

Abduction – Existentialismus Track Listing:

1. A Legacy of Sores
2. Pyramidia Liberi
3. Truth is as Sharp a Sword as Vengeance
4. Blau ist die Farbe der Ewigkeit
5. Razors of Occam
6. Vomiting at Baalbek

Links

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