Call of the Abyss
This is my first foray into Death/Doom/Black Metal so I hope I do it justice as this is a fantastic album ….. here goes
Polish metal act Death Has Spoken released their second full length album “Call Of The Abyss via Ossuary Records on November 1st. This is their second full album with their first being “Fade” which was released independently back in 2017. There was one single entitled “Downfall” which they released as a split release back in 2020 along with Sun No More and Tankograd.
With their first release they drew lyrical inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe and they continue that with Call Of The Abyss and channel some H.P. Lovecraft as well. There has been one video released so far , that being for the title track. The band is a four piece with Karol Pogorzelski :Vocals, Rhythm Guitars , Marcin Grygoruk – lead guitar , Maciej Chodynicki – bass, and Mikołaj Kupczyński – drums Lyrics were composed by Pogorzelski with Additional samples and synths by Grygoruk. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at HiGain Studio , recording: Janusz Grabowski and Marcin Grygoruk , mix and mastering: Janusz Grabowski, Cover artwork and layout: Marcin Grygoru.
Let’s review this track by track …..
1 – Call Of The Abyss — Thunder rolls and drum crash right into a buzz saw of fuzz drenched guitar…. vocals straight from the darkened depth of the foamy waves and seas they talk about …. Pogorzelki’s vocals ooze out like the sludge from a barrell of nuclear waste from a Toxic Avenger movie…. as bass throbs underneath it all…. heavy heavy track !!
2 – Lurking Fear — This track is like hiking in a jungle with that feeling that a python is on the hunt behind you and that slithery forboding feeling that makes the hairs come up on your neck as you turn around and come face to face with it …..the last verse … “Can’t get away…..Draws me….I Know Something Is Coming….But It’s No Use” sums things up nicely
3 – Woe — Gutteral vocals..slow steady like a pendulum swinging as it decendes deeper and deeper into the darkness , guitar straight out of a Vincent Price film, bass and drums deliberate till a tiny bit of a rave up towards the end of the track with a nice lead from Grygoruk…. this reviewer feels like he’s encased in concrete now due to the sheer crushing weight of these tracks.
4 – Wilderness – Wow what a right turn this one is !! Almost like an interlude piece for an intermission in a long movie or show …some keyboard I think, maybe acoustic … light but still dark at the same time… nice breather… I needed it .
5 – Crawling To The Tomb – At 7:27 in length this is the longest track on the album but I have to say none of them drag at all ….in fact it’s the perfect combination of filling you but leaving you wanting more at the same time …low and slow is the mantra for this one…. but when it’s done you have the perfect recipe for a most delicous meal of dank and decayed doom metal… love the outro light guitars almost reminds me of the intro to “Rock Bottom” from KISS… nice touch !!
6 – In Vain — This is my favorite track lyrically and musically on the album …Real chunky guitars.. drums come to the forefront … vocals are slightly animated and to my ears there is a timing change something I truly enjoy in a song ! Lyric — “Walking in grief’s field… No time to prepare …In dirges sad delight …Dreams infuse the night” ..just Killer !!
7 – Under The Flame — “I’ve been lost for so long…. For so very long …Living with it day by day …..Without end and meaning” Bleakness , sorrow, and melancholiness prevail right thru the last track… it’s dark it’s doomy … total consistancy throughout ….
Death Has Spoken – Call To The Abyss was my first time listening to Doom/Death/Black Metal in detail and I must say it was very appealing…. I don’t know enough about other bands in the genre to make any real legit comparisons to …. for classic metal bands that I heard elements of I would throw in of course Black Sabbath especially the way the album opens.. I also heard a bit of Trouble in there and maybe just maybe a bit of early heavier Metallica on the track “In Vain” … but then again that’s just to my ears … everyone hears things differently . All in all by the time I was done I liked what I had heard and especially the pictures in my head that I had seen courtesy of the sounds in my ears and the lyrics I had read… MTV the old fashionied way where you used your own imagination to cover your won canvas… try this you’ll like it !
Review by Lance Hall