#absvrdist

[grindandgore]

Absvrdist -- Mindless

[wolfkingxmusic-blog]

Illusory by Absvrdist

Listen while you read.

The instrumentation on this album is amazing. Overall production is everything I’ve come to expect from black metal and grindcore: Very fuzzy, very loud. That in mind, Illusory does not fall victim to the unlistenableness that a lot of black and grind bands suffer from. The bass is mixed in perfectly, and is clear and audible on many tracks (Exposure, First World Problems, Shidiot are standout), another trait I’ve come to expect from grindcore. Overall riffage is very diverse and keeps the listener’s attention. Absvrdist has found a wonderful balance between black metal grimness and hardcore brutality. The opening riff to Funny Games and overall progression of Brood provide an energetic, yet bitter atmosphere. Mindless shows off the band’s hardcore chops, with a closing riff that brings enough mosh to last for ages. Illusory and Abstract Absurdities are small yet laudable victories in the technicality department, as the riffs take some notes out of mathcore’s playbook. Illusory has excellent guitars, plain and simple.

Excellence is a standard on this release, as the Drums are nearly as good as the guitars. Though heavily influenced by hardcore, the drums on Illusory are very diverse, with songs like Delusion and Logical Conclusion that crush the listener’s ears with a hardcore-tinged metal assault, and songs like Mindless and Abstract Absurities, which give great atmosphere to the band’s artsier songs. More broadly, the mix of mosh parts and blackened blastbeats make for an interesting balance.

Vocals are this album’s musical weakpoint. One point of pride is the absolutely sickening nature of the black metal shrieks, however. Besides the shrieks, the vocals on this album are pretty standard issue for a grind-based band. At some points, Illusory is light on vocals, with some short-spoken songs, and some instrumental tracks. This is fine and balanced, as the instrumentation is the star of this release, and the occasional sample provides some backup. You’ll be hard pressed to decipher lyrics aside from those in the sample, as lyrics to this album aren’t anywhere to be found, it seems. Vocals aren’t nearly on par with the rest of the band, but they get the job done.

Top-down, this is a very strong release. The fuzzy grossness of the mixing combined with the short and fast nature of the songs make for a pissed off, energy-packed experience, diversity in the instruments keep things interesting at all times, and the delicate balancing act between extreme metal and hardcore is completed flawlessly. My only true gripe with Illusory is that it’s too short; it’s a bit over 26 minutes long, and the songs are less than two minutes, on average.

Overall rating: 83%

Here’s their Bandcamp.

[jayelly12]

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#ABSVRDIST LYLE COOPER KILLING SHIT

[grindandgore]

Absvrdist -- Repulsive

[thelambstotheslaughter-blog]

Absvrdist | Logical Conclusion | Illusory

[thelambstotheslaughter-blog]

Absvrdist | Repulsive | Illusory

[becausehardcore]

[fuccuall]

I hear the crying of this worlds beauty gnawing at me; it glares clawing me, it stares Calling to its bright light into the open night To my end, it might.