Band:	Abruptum
Album:	In Umbra Malitae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumpho Tenebrarum
Style:	Ambient, Noise, Black metal
Release date:	April 1994
Guest review by:	Zombie, M.D.

01. In Umbra Malitae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumpho Tenebrarum

I think Euronymous put it best when he said "Abruptum is the audial essence of Pure Black Evil" during an interview conducted by Faust after signing them to his infamous label Deathlike Silence Productions. They are arguably the most twisted, deranged and obscure band to surface from the Scandinavian black metal movement of the early 90's and remain legendary today for their bizarre form of "black noise". To listen to a mid era Abruptum album completely through is an experience to say the least. This piece in particular is a single hour long anthem of utter darkness and terror.

If most black metal were comparable to a punch in the face, Abruptum would be like someone creeping up behind you, slowly drilling a hole in your brain and pouring acid in it as it proceeds to vomit blood all over you. The music is painful, slow and disjointed with the only semi consistent part being the drum beat. While they are slowly pounding away on the drums seemingly random guitar sounds, feedback and horror-esque keyboards jump in and out of the music. On occasion down tuned guitars will play along with the drums in a more 'musical' sense, which is seemingly the last trace of their earlier demo material that appears on these mid-era albums, comparable in certain respects to extreme doomsters Khanate. As all of this is happening their vocalist, the aptly named IT, wails, moans, cries, grunts and shrieks some of the most tortured, desperate and just plain unsettling sounds I have ever heard come from a human beings throat. He is one of those special vocalists who has a completely inhuman and insane way of using his voice. If someone were to lower a microphone into the bowels of hell and press the record button, I'm sure the result would sound very much like Abruptum.

As much as I love this album, there are certain aspects of it which I don't like. Firstly, for this type of "anti-music" which is heavily focused on atmosphere, I think it would benefit from being produced a bit better. I suppose this could be their intention, but when listening to the CD it sounds as if it were recorded in a tunnel. However that is just a minor inconvenience and can not bring down the album. The only other part which can be a slight annoyance is that this music requires a very particular mood to listen to. This is just one of those albums that you listen to at 2 in the morning by yourself with all the lights off when you know there won't be any distractions. This isn't a CD you would put in your car while driving to work or listen to with some friends in your basement.

Despite its flaws, this album is absolutely phenomenal. Not quite perfect, but very far above being average and definitely refreshing. If you're looking for blast beat driven "in your face" styled black metal I would not recommend this album to you. However, if you are into the more abstract and experimental side of things, I think you will quite enjoy this album.