Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 11/21/2006
Aside from naming their sophomore effort after
Venom's drummer (well, probably the Old Testament demon, actually), perhaps the most newsworthy quality of
the Concubine's music is that it is 100-percent free of
emo/
screamo additives -- a rare feat within their Garden State milieu. Instead, typical
Abaddon tracks such as
"Amaranthine," "Shape Shifter" and
"Regnum Cruoris," offer churning maelstroms of
death metal brutality; their incessant time changes sometimes approach the intricacy of
math metal, while their momentary descents into doom-like slow grooves provide much needed rest-stops for the musicians to stave off Carpal Tunnel syndrome. In addition, most every song, but especially
"Millennia's Ghost" and
"Oracle," also feature equally complicated but surprisingly melodic themes and solos snaking between their thorny branches. And vocally, frontman
Dave Stahl favors a corrosive, Cookie Monster growl of the most guttural pitch with which to interpret the group's imaginative tales of apocalypse impending. Yes, at barely 30 minutes, the album is obviously a little too brief, but given the intricate nature of its songs, digesting more than that in one sitting would likely prove far too challenging for most young listeners, dying to get back to their video games. As such, many consumers are bound to consider
Abaddon exactly what the doctor ordered.
~Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide
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