I had high hopes for this project when it came out. The last few Absu albums did not do much for me. The band peaked with Tara and have never been able to get even close to that ever since.
I will say that based off a few spins at this point that this is not Tara part 2. And that is ok, I don't need another Tara... I have one already. What this album does have in common with Tara though is a flurry of riffs that never stop, complex arrangements, and a constant onslaught that never really stops till the record is over.
Instead of a thrash basis for the black metal, this is almost progressive metal. Not progressive in a pay as many notes as possible or as complex arrangements as possible. More like the songs have a dynamic flow to them and don't really conform to any one type of song structure.
The song variety is also quite good. Some of them are scorchers that rely heavily on blast beats. Others are a bit more varied and work in subtle keyboards in tasteful sections. While there is quite a bit of variance in the pace there are no slow songs on the record, everything is mid paced or higher.
All that said, the album is really quite excellent. There are passages that will play and demand my attention - one in particular comes on Esoterically Excoriating the Exotic. The band is going full speed then slows down just slightly and some keyboards come in to accent the guitars. It's only two to four measures of music but damn does it stand out.
I'm looking forward to see what Proscriptor has in store for the future of his band. This is the best any of his projects has sounded in years, a rejuvenation of the Absu/Apsu sound.
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