Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Abyssos > Together We Summon the Dark > Reviews
Abyssos - Together We Summon the Dark

Necessary "witching metal" - 90%

MetalLord666, May 31st, 2021

After almost 9 years since first listening to this album, I'm writing this review. As the title reads, yes this IS necessary for anyone who really is into melodic black metal. If you think black metal is only about lo-fi production (and I call myself a legit fan of that stuff) that lacks any musical talent and complexity (on the other hand I despise this), then you're utterly wrong.

This record forever sets Abyssos among the melodic black metal gods. The opening track alone, with lots of riffs that would all get in good with Dissection, Mörk Gryning, and Naglfar, is more than enough to let you have a glimpse of what you're about to listen. You are being accompanied throughout the songs by simple (not simplistic) but effective drumming; good and "groovy" bass lines that lay the right rhythm section; screeching - not really sure if it could be called screeching - vocals (something between Dani Filth without the high notes and Ihsahn) that I'm assuming are hard as fuck to do without messing up your throat; and let's talk about the guitars. This guy named Rehn, who is also the singer, keyboardist and songwriter, plays both guitar parts, and I'll be damned if he isn't a genius. There isn't actually a separation between lead and rhythm guitars, they are harmonised together to produce entwined mind-blowing melodies and haunting minor chords in a way you could hardly find elsewhere than in the milestones of melodic black. Clearly the guy has studied music and knows a lot about its classical aesthetics; a great proof is in the instrumental title track, which reminds you of something written for the soundtrack of a horror movie based on a 200-year-old gothic novel.

The lyrics, written by Söderlund (the drummer), deal in general with vampires, witches, dark romance, gothic scenarios, and Evil and Satanic themes. They're all in first person and apparently revolt around the figure of an elder vampire lord who bears the mark of the Beast, and has seen and done all sort of things (including making love to Elisabeth Bathory in a filthy tub of virgin blood and dancing naked with the oldest Transylvanian vampires) since the dawn of time. Probably the most autobiographic lines are in the song "In Fear They Left the World Unseen":

"You'll never see my face at noon
'Cause my heart only beats at fullmoon
You'll never pronounce my name at night
If you're not ready to face the burning light
I'm not the Son of Christ, nor the Father of Lies
I'm the Lord of the Flies and demons rise before my eyes".

I would say the only "weak" track here is "Lord of the Sombre Reborn" as in my opinion it's musically the least original and creative, and it almost feels like it's out of place with the rest of the album. Nonetheless, I strongly recommend this record to anyone who gets the same feelings as me when I listen to The Somberlain, Storm of the Light's Bane, Tusen år har gått..., Amorous Anathema, A Dream's Funeral etc; you won't be disappointed. It's a shame they split up and never had the chance to release their planned album Delomelanicon in 2003; with a masterpiece like this one and the following successful Fhinsthanian Nightbreed, I wonder how awesome would have been their third effort.

Unnecessary "witching metal" - 45%

ratsalad, September 6th, 2009

Black metal is fast becoming, nay has even become, the genre in which mediocrity is not only commonplace, but also embraced and lauded by a bizarre number of fans. As long as you have some gimp shrieking over some tremolo riffs and blast beats, then the corpse-painted basement-dwelling legions will cheerily give it a frostbitten thumbs up and get back to masturbating over images of Dani Filth.

Speaking of Dani Filth, his influence is clearly felt on Abyssos' debut album, Together We Summon the Dark. The music here is reminiscent of the British dwarf's early work, complete with gothic-romance-vampiric-longing lyrical themes and high pitched shrieks. Of course, anyone with half a braincell knows that any vampire or gothic themed metal is so entirely lacking in balls that it turns the entire concept of heavy metal on its head, but it's not only the subject matter where extremity or imagination is lacking.

This is among the most dull and sterile black metal albums that I've had the questionable privilege to listen to; from the hackneyed synth interludes to the monotonous drums, every idea on this album has been done by bigger and better bands already, about nine thousand times. The guitars play a string of lifeless and unoriginal melodic black riffs while the vocalist screams like a petulant toddler. The bassist, unaware that his band mates unplugged his amp before recording started, naively attempts to provide the rhythmic foundation for the group with the drummer who snoozes his way through the album with a stock catalogue of blast beats and bass rolls.

For all this, however, it would be unfair to label Together We Summon the Dark as a BAD release. Everything presented on this disc is competently done, the guitars possessing enough technical flair to play the occasional solo, the drummer being able to keep time adequately, the synths are pretty enough and the female vocalist, when she pops up, is suitably gothic and melancholy. The ultimate failing of this album is just the sheer redundancy of it all: we don't NEED another melodic black metal album, echoing the former glories of the genre stalwarts, and we sure as shit don't need it on an album sixty five minutes long.

Yes, I'd look charitably on this album perhaps if the average track length wasn't over seven minutes. Perhaps on a thirty five minute album the stale ideas and adequate performance would just wash over me inoffensively like a luke-warm shower, but at over an hour this album massively outstays its welcome, making my skin all wrinkled and kind of chilly (I don't know where I'm going with this).

Together We Summon the Dark doesn't actively offend; you could play this in the car to your black metal loving buddies (oh to have black metal loving buddies. . .) and they wouldn't chorus, "Dude, what is this unoriginal and ball-less shit?", as long as your iPod's on shuffle and it's just the one track. The concept of playing this frankly boring and uninspired record in its entirety, however, can go suck a dick.

Bkack In Flames - 85%

anatas, July 24th, 2003

Rather interesting CD with the only one disadvantage -- the time of it's duration. More than an hour of black metal -- It's to long, besides to me. To get a real satisfaction it's better to listen to it by parts.

The sound remind me In Flames -- but a bit slower and with common black metal vocal. The songs are long lasting. Its structure is rather comlex, that's why it's very interesting to listen to them. Another advantage of this Cd is it's lyrics, which remind me lyrics of Cradle of Filth.

The best tracks -- We Hail Thy Entrance, Misty Autumn Dance, Banquet in the Dark (Black Friday), I've Watched the Moon Grow Old