Abruptum – In umbra malitae ambulabo, in aeternum in triumpho tenebrarum

April 1, 1994 • Deathlike Silence Productions

Abruptum was one of the more "classic" bands in the original black metal scene from when it began to trickle into Sweden, although they seem to have taken a radically different approach to their music than their contemporaries. If their second album In umbra malitae ambulabo... is indicative of their typical style (and I hear that it is) then I'm not sure how they managed to garner any fame at all, as it is a very (for lack of a better word) stupid-sounding album, one that to me fails at everything it sets out to do.

The name of the game here is improvisation, coupled with a hefty dose of dissonance, all drenched in reverb. In fact there's hardly anything metal about it at all—with its slow, sparse, methodical drumming, off-kilter and even-sparser guitar, and deranged grunting vocals it is more of a dark ambient album made with rock instruments. But even after accepting that, it still isn't a good ambient album. While it is true that it has a decidedly gloomy atmosphere, it's thwarted by the fact that it all just sounds silly, especially the vocals. The wordless grunts and moans don't sound creepy, just ridiculous. Same thing with the guitar; it doesn't sound foreboding or scary, just like someone who doesn't know how to play it.

The other issue is that the album is so long and boring; for sixty minutes it's the same thing—the improvised guitar over either the slow drums and vocals, or nothing. It goes on and on and doesn't progress or build or express anything (except "oooh we are scary", which they're not), and after about ten minutes of the same thing it becomes pointless. I can see a heavily-abridged version of this working as a closer to a more typical metal album, but on its own it doesn't work at all.

While it fortunately never quite borders on being truly annoying, Abruptum is definitely dull and not something I want to revisit anytime soon. They didn't make a good dark ambient band and they didn't make a good black metal band. Although plenty of other groups have crossed that genre chasm successfully Abruptum just fell in, and I don't want to go in after them.

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