Style: Blackened thrash
Primary Emotions/Themes: Extreme empowerment, awe, taking control of the stone of destiny
Thoughts: Magnum opus. I've discussed this word before. I've used it less than ten times in nearly eight hundred entries into this blog. It is an important word, and it is to be used with reverence.
It symbolizes not only the band's best work, but something more. It sets a standard, it creates a new level for a the band in question - as well as others - to strive for. It raises the bar.
To this point Absu had been a curious yet inconsistent band. Their debut was a quirky mix of death metal and blackened thrash. Their second album experimented with longer song structures and the introduction of keyboards. The third album introduced a heavy thrash influence and retained that raw energy of the debut.... and then came Tara.
Absu had never been a band that I followed closely. I had all of the albums before this, but they were something I put on the CD player rarely. A curiosity at best. I picked Tara up without thinking much of it, just another CD to add to the collection that day. When I got home I don't even think I played it for at least a few days... it just sat.
When it finally did make its way into the CD player I was greeted with... bagpipes...? This was different. They sounded raw and not nearly as polished as other intros with the same instrument. It was rather off putting to be honest, but I listened onwards - to the Pillars of Mercy... and everything changed.
I still remember the first time I heard the drum fill to start the record off proper. To this day, I don't think that anything has flabbergasted me like that intro did. It came out of no where, there was no precedence set, the band had never done anything like this before. Like a ten ton hammer it hit me upside the head.
Absu had changed. They were no longer a sloppy directionless band. This was razor focused and tighter than a bank vault door. Holy. Fucking. Shit.
The thrash influence hinted at earlier in their albums is now fully worked into the sound. It is fused perfectly with their black metal past. The riffs have been sharpened and honed like a fine sword that has been forged in the deepest forge. They slice through the air like a sharp blade through muscle and flesh.
The drums... oh the drums. Proscriptor has upped his game... significantly. The interplay between the snare and bass drums sets the standard for metal drumming. The simplicity of the drums, yet the intensity and precision that they are executed... it's next level shit. The fills. I can't get enough of them. They are woven into the songs like threads to a fine tapestry.
There's a moment on A Shield with an Iron Face where Proscriptor does a fill with only bass drums. Every time I hear this I pause and shake my head. It's too good. Everything is too good.
I've seen some comments about this album in the past that its repetitious. The songs are too similar to each other. I don't have that problem. I've listened to this thing several hundred times in my life and not once have I thought... "gee I wish there was more variety."
Variety does come though, towards the end. Starting with Bron, the band plays a wonderful acoustic melody that brings me peace. This leads into one of the best closing songs in my collection: The Stone of Destiny.
This eight minute epic embodies everything that I love about metal. It's complex, it goes through several movements, it has strong guest vocals, and it simply kicks ass. The thrash is largely gone here, in favor of a more elongated approach... if anything it calls to mind the earlier Absu albums more so than anything else on the album. It has a flowing cadence to it that make it sound like a boat rowing towards a shore. Excellent stuff.
There is so much more to talk about here, but I'm already approaching the limits of what I consider a blog entry. I haven't even mentioned King Diamond or how the guest vocals sound like Dio. Those are legends in and of themselves. With that we conclude the story of Tara... Absu's undisputed Magnum Opus.
Written April 19th 2024
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