Normally the first paragraph is where I'd deliver the background info on the band, like lineup changes, genre evolution, all that stuff. But let's leave that for now and look at the tracklist. You'll notice that each of the tracks are longitude and latitude coordinates, each being quite precise to the point of adding a decimal to the last measure. I'm sure a topologist can put that in better terms than I do. Regardless, the word salad in the Bandcamp page states: "Keys to understanding Abyssal Vacuum are contained in the six component track titles to Abyssal Vacuum, each one pinpointing a particular locale doubtlessly portending considerable occult energy." Thankfully for me, each of those are formatted in such a way that one can easily search them on Google Maps. I was hoping I'd find other people who have tried to unearth their significance besides just pinpointing their location, because for some one can kind of guess why they'd have such "occult energy".
The locations are as follows:
- 43°23'51.0"N 40°21'35.3"E leads to an unmarked point in the mountains of Abkhazia, somewhat close to where the Zhoekvara river springs.
- 44°13'15.2"N 3°21'25.4"E leads to the Aven Armand cave system in Cévennes National Park in southern France. Wikipedia mentions that it's "known for the tallest known stalagmite of 30 meters".
- 37°11'18.4"N 86°06'10.3"W leads to the Mammoth Cave System in Kentucky. Wikipedia mentions that it's "the longest known cave system in the world".
- 17°08'51.0"N 88°48'45.0"W leads to Springfield, Belize, a village of about 250 people, founded by a protestant Christian branch called the "Mennonites". Surprisingly close to the country's capital in Belmopan.
- 17°07'42.1"N 88°51'02.5"W is pretty close to the previous one, leading to the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave in Belize. Wikipedia mentions that it's "notable as a Maya archaeological site that includes skeletons, ceramics, and stoneware".
- 27°51'03.6"N 105°29'45.7"W leads to the Crystal Cave in Naica, northern Mexico. Wikipedia mention that it "contains giant selenite crystals, some of the largest natural crystals ever found" and that "the cave is extremely hot, with air temperatures reaching up to 58 °C (136 °F) with 90 to 99 percent humidity".
Given that four of the six locations lead to a cave, I wouldn't be surprised if the Abkhazian mountain one also lead to one. That would leave the village one as the outlier, though I bet there ought to be some significance to that one as well.
This out of the way, let's get back to the band itself, who are at their most "band" structured they've ever been. Initially starting out as a one-man project of Sébastien Besson back in 2017, over the course of several EPs, each titled in roman numerals after the year of their writing and without any track titles, the band gradually expanded, first by enlisting a drummer for MMXIX, then by enlisting a bassist for MMXX, and now the band's live guitarist got enlisted as a proper member to make Abyssal Vacuum a four piece for their full length debut. Given the names and tracklists and lack of published lyrics, and the fact that Googling "Abyssal Vacuum interview" didn't lead to any relevant results, it's fair to say that being cryptic is part of the band's appeal.
Abyssal Vacuum is a pretty good dissonant black metal album, even if it lacks much in terms of surprises, the entire presentation around it, from the evocative cover art to the cavernous feel of its production and the natural sounding samples matching the knowledge of the aforementioned caves the coordinates in the tracklist lead to, does make the entire package of the listening experience more evocative than the music by itself would've been. Black metal has always had a connection to the natural world, hence why atmospheric black metal and cover arts containing forests, snow, and mountains became such a popular combo. Instead of more generically referring to the icy fjords of Norway or the forests of Cascadia, having an album refer, however cryptically, to very specific locations, and ones that differ even slightly from forests and mountains, does feel conceptually fresh.
I don't mean to dismiss the music itself by placing so much emphasis on the package containing it. There's plenty to appreciate about it on its own. Sébastien leaving more and more of his duties to other band members leaves him with more room to experiment as a vocalist, and the shifts from more growly vocals to raspier grunts to almost monastic sounding choirs does create for a very diverse sounding album on the vocal front. The dual guitar approach gets plenty of moments to create interesting interplay between the two, with the contrast between the riffier one and the more tremolo picking one in the second track being a good example. The more band focused songwriting works well with the production, which lets the sound feel pristine enough to distinguish the two guitars and to make the drums feel impactful, even if the bass doesn't get a lot of shine, all the while keeping that very fitting cavernous feel.
Considering its theme, this is a very fitting album for me to invite you to "descend into it".
