Origo Regium 1993-1994

(Review originally appeared in Gnosis Webzine in 2000)

My perfect vision of the ideal of black metal grimness can be summed up in one word… Abigor.

Abigor have taken the basic precepts laid forth by the low-fi, but brilliant nightmares courtesy of seminal black metal masterpieces such as Mayhem's De Mysteriis dom Sathanas, Burzum's Hviss Lyset Tar Oss, and even Emperor's Into the Nightside Eclipse as their musical blueprint. However, instead of aping those acts verbatim, Abigor builds upon these influences with such great passion and creative revelation that they transcend and surpass all that came before them.

Origo Regium is a collection of demos recorded prior to Abigor’s debut album, “Verwüstung / Invoke the Dark Age”, and they show a very clear picture of how Abigor came to be. Abigor has evolved and de-evolved over their existence, meta-morphing from “primitive symphonic” into one of the few convincing technical black metal bands I’ve ever heard, and then back into something even more primal and brutal on their latest releases. Abigor has also been one of the most prolific in the genre, rivaling even Darkthrone for sheer quantity of output, while always retaining a surprising level of excellence. Origo Regium just goes to further illustrate that fact.

One thing that really sets Origo Regium apart from other demos is the clean production, which is very representative of Abigor’s sound. Compared to the earliest demos of Enslaved, Mayhem, or Emperor, where you can barely discern what is going on, Origo Regium is spacious & clean, allowing you to hear each instrument clearly. This is impressive because these demos where recorded on 4-track with sub par equipment.

Unlike most demos, which often show the promise, but still undeveloped potential of a band, Origo Regium showcases the fact that Abigor had already realized much of their vision even at this early stage. The music is breathtaking, both in the scope of the performances and the high-caliber arrangements.