ABHOR — Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti (review)

ABHOR — Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti album cover Album · 2011 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Time Signature
Golden path...

Genre: black metal

Abhor are black metal legends in their own right, and with "Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti", they take the listener on a dark journey through their bizarre, occult musical universe.

After a clean and melodic, but dark, opening, the first track 'Golden Path' explodes into as traditionally black black metal can get with not-too-fast blastbeating and simple tremolo riffing, and, for a second, it seems that the listener is in for yet another run-of-the-mill black metal release. "But wait, that is that?", the listener says, as an organ becomes more and more prominent on top of the tremolo picking and blastbeating, and then the tempo and intensity drops as a melodic section, with atmospheric synths and keyboards kicks in.

And it becomes clear that this is release is, while intense and full of black metal aesthetics, a very melodic affair with a lot of atmosphere and sometimes even an epic feel. Throughout the album Abhor masterfully and seamlessly go back and forth between black metal intensity and atmospheric melodicism - often blending them together into their own style of melodic black metal.

While it might take some time to get used to them, I really like the organ and synth effects and the way that they contribute to the overall sound, which is much warmer than what is typical of black metal (perhaps because the bass is actually audible). And, there is some really spacey stuff, too, including what sounds like a theremin, which makes for a very interesting listening experience.

Abhor's "Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti" is dark and intense, yet very melodic and very accessible, and altogether a well put together black metal release.
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