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I got a copy of this compilation based upon a recommendation from a colleague at work. We've been discussing Japanese Black Metal, when Arkha Sva came up. After hours of conversation, he recommended Avsolutized.

I'm assuming most people who check out this release will do so based upon their knowledge of Arkha Sva. If you are expecting anything like that, you should look elsewhere. This release screams "Sweden-worship." Their sound is something rather typical of a lot of Swedish Black Metal bands. The musicianship is a lot more technical than Arkha Sva. The production is also a lot more polished.

The first song, "Det Tysta Fallet," is simply an intro consisting of a very obnoxious, and unnecessary vocalization. The operatic vocals serve absolutely no point in my opinion. They don't help build towards anything. The only feeling I had from listening to this was that it was just thrown in there. That intro is one of the things that cost this album a 95, instead of an 79.

The next track, "An Everlasting Circulation of Void," is pretty boring. It's well written. As I mentioned earlier, it too closely resembles a lot of Swedish projects, that we have all heard a million times over. It brings nothing new to the equation.

The follow up to track two is another interlude, that is completely undeserving of review. It is neither good, nor bad. It just has no reason to be there. It ties nothing together, nor does it help push the following material in another direction.

The saving grace of this album is actually a Setherial cover. "My Veins Are Open" is a song I'm pretty familiar with, but never cared much for. This band made this an enjoyable track to listen to. I almost feel like it is played with more strength and conviction than the original. Again, the operatic vocals somewhat ruined the mood for me.

I wouldn't call this a sub-par release. It's well-played. It's just something we've all heard a million times again and again. The guitar playing and drumming are spot on during this entire release. I can honestly say that Avsolutized is one of the better musically-versed Black Metal acts. It doesn't hurt that the vocals are almost Silencer-esque at times. This is good for a listen or two, but it's already made it's way to my stack of cds that I am burned out on.

Not only is this a compilation but for most people this will be their first introduction to the Japanese BM band Avsolutized. (It certainly was for me.) These guys may play a style of riff-based melodic BM with lots of buzzing noise guitar showers that's not all that different from what other BM bands do but what really distinguishes the band from everyone else is the impossibly bird-like shrieking that accompanies the deeper growling vocals on three tracks. After a very brief soft instrumental opening track, the men get down to business in an efficient no-nonsense way with those duelling voices on "An Everlasting Circulation of Void"; after some time, changes in key and a corresponding change in mood liven up the music and the song is never quite the same again. Periodic blastbeats, new riffs popping in almost continuously, changes in pace and the interaction between the high voice and the low keep up the interest level. At one point the singer - he's actually responsible for the two sets of vocals - decides to go operatic but only for a brief moment.

The band then goes into a Setherial cover "My Veins are Open" and give it a raw and aggressive, even thunderous treatment with boing-boing bass and near-thrash level drumming rhythms. The song later becomes martial, slows down a bit and the rhythms becomes hard-hitting. Again we have the duelling vocals, the growling and the long drawn-out banshee howls but these take a backseat to the wobbly lead guitar lines and the music's twists and turns.

An instrumental piece provides a welcome if short breather before Avsolutized bring on the noisy guitar barrage in again on "Utan Dod ..." in which the two voices try to outdo each other in their respective extremes: the deep death metal-styled voice in subterranean grit-churning tones and the banshee voice in long eardrum-splitting screams that may descend into almost hammy opera singing. The music this time gives support to the singing in an efficient and aggressive straightforward way.

Alas this is just a short best-of / compilation album and three tracks plus two short instrumental pieces give just a brief hint of what this band may be capable of. Certainly in the way the vocals are done, there is much potential for a barmy and over-the-top theatrical act which could be overdone if the guys let themselves get too carried away to the extent that the music gets overlooked. The disciplined way in which the duo plays though suggests this OTT approach isn't likely to happen often. There are some good surprises in the music especially in "An Everlasting Circulation ..." with those key changes which suggest the fellows know exactly what effects they want and how to get them. There is also variation in the music: in one track the music dominates the vocals and in another the vocals take the starring role. Avsolutized is definitely a band you want to watch out for in the future.