Abyssic are in their own way a novelty in the doom field, as they admirably blend the slow funeral pace with the symphonic hints of Norwegian black metal. It’s no coincidence that the band’s founder is Memnoch, who was already a member of Galder’s Old Man’s Child as well as of the remarkable Susperia, which also included the well-known drummer Tjodalv (Dimmu Borgir), who together with keyboardist Andre Aaslie (Funeral), bassist Makhashanah (formerly of Sirenia) and the other guitarist Elvorn, also of Susperia, complete the line-up of what at first glance might seem to be some sort of black metal supergroup, but is instead the author of one of the most solemn and mournful albums released this year. As a possible term of comparison for the work of Abyssic we could take the last work of the revived Comatose Vigil (with the suffix A.K.), Evangelium Nihil, with the substantial difference of a much less suffocating approach, favored by a work of the keyboards that moves the sound on an atmospheric rather than horror or funeral. High The Memory is an addition to the splendid 2016 debut A Winter’s Tale, enhancing as on that occasion the touch of Aaslie and, in general, of a whole band composed of thick musicians enslaved to the creation of long, enveloping and melodically impeccable songs. Almost an hour and twenty of music may seem a lot, but it’s not when it’s performed in such a fluid way and the audience has the right approach to the genre: what’s amazing is just the fact that in a work of such dimensions there are no tension drops, especially in the two longest tracks like the title track or Where My Pain Lies, both of which exceed twenty minutes in length. Abyssic take the pathos that bands like Ea or Monolithe were able to create in the past to the extreme melodic consequences, and this is no small thing.

2019 – Osmose Productions