Absurd²

I first heard Absurd2 on the classic compilation album “In the Shadows of Death” from Endtime productions back in the early ’00’s. I was instantly hooked to “Wisdom” with it’s technical thrash assault, dual vocals (there’s a guest vocalist on this track!) and that awesome jazzy outdo played on the bass. I just had to have more.

Absurd2 are one of those supergroups that should ditch their main-bands and concentrate on this project. Their 3- song ep is THAT good! Highly technical thrash metal with hints of death metal as well, and the band consisted of former and current members of Extol, Benet Reach, Vardøger, Silver, Azusa, Kvelertak and others

Ivan’s vocals fit the music really well, even though his scream is more of a hardcore scream a la older Selfmindead. The music has that Extol-vibe, especially the sound they did on the Synergy-album, so I strongly recommend fans of that band and album to check this release out. And as Synergy is strongly inspired by Believer, fans of that band should also check out Absurd2. They play strang chords, have powerful blasting from drummer David Husvik and they have some super tight song-writing throughout all three songs. But the instrument that tops it all, is the bass!! It has a life completely on its own and is super jazzy. Bass solos are all over the place!

There really isn’t much to point a finger at on this release, other than I had hoped for it to be a full-length. Everything works really well and I enjoy this release today as much as I did those almost 20 years ago when I heard it for the first time! It would be interesting to heard more from these band, but sadly I don’t think that will happen. The closest thing we’ll hear to Absurd2 these days is probably Azusa, which has both David Husvik and Christer Esepevoll in the band and also has some of that glorious technical thrash metal.

This very short-lived outfit appeared as a side vehicle for the Extol guys who wanted to use it in order to give more freedom to their thrash-prone urges as opposed to their more prominently death metal-peppered style at the time. However, by the time this demo saw the light of day the main act had also moved towards the thrash metal canons with “Synergy”, and this 3-tracker can be viewed a really nice companion to it.

The delivery here is even more appealing and more elaborate than the one on “Synergy”, lacking the more melodic embellishments from it that were already pointing at a different, mellower direction. “Point of Insanity” is a mesmerizing maze of technically dazzling riff configurations in the spirit of Chemical Breath and Coroner, frequently shifting tempos, a couple of straight-forward headbanging sections, and intense shouty, somewhat hysterical, vocals; another plus is the beautiful bass-driven fusion-esque pirouette. “In Hypnosis” is a more dramatic shredder with more urgent staccato riffage and a lengthy stomping mid-break which later spreads all the way to the end; and “Wisdom” is the final piece of technical “wisdom” introduced by a nice brief bass burp before supreme intricate riff-formulas start jumping over each other in a fascinating, also disorienting effect the guys making sure to preserve the mosh with a portion of speedy passages the latter frequently intercepted by spiral-like arrangements those not far from the mathematical complexity of Deathrow’s “Deception Ignored” and Coroner’s “Mental Vortex”; a setback of some sorts could be considered the sprawling exiting balladic etude which benefits from the appropriately used vociferous bass.

A really nice momentary showing which never turned into anything too substantial as the guys carried on with the Extol saga with the disappointing “The Blueprint Dives”. They were also running another project simultaneously with those two, the gothic metal formation The Crest, who survived long enough to put two full-lengths in their discography. A hard-working batch for sure; one that silenced all the critics flocking in their backyard with this short burst of musical illumination.