Life Beyond the Grave: 1992-1994

Back in the early 1990s, Absurd was barely a band; just a group of kids attempting to imitate the likes of Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, and Immortal. Their music was notoriously raw and simplistic, and the musicianship (or lack thereof) makes me question whether these guys, at the time, were even musicians. But despite the overall shitty sound, Life Beyond the Grave manages to be a very interesting release.

Though Life Beyond the Grave exudes a dilletantish aura, the songs, which were later re-recorded with better production, show a great amount of potential. Tracks such as "The Gates of Heaven", "Last Breath", and "Eternal Winter" progressed to become live staples. Most of the songs here are quite good, though a few, such as the twenty second "Cannibal Lust" are completely useless; I don't know why they are even featured on here. The only song on here that is exceptionally good is the 1993 recording of "Last Breath", where the contrast between Dark Mark Doom's clean vocals and the primal screams of Wolf creates a very cool sound. The rest of the songs are mere foreshadows of the better music to stem from Absurd's later career.

Mostly, the feel I get from this compilation is that the band failed at achieving their goal of being a "true black metal band". Instead, this makes them seem more like a punk band than anything. There is no atmosphere or beauty to this whatsoever; just a collage of hateful, violent black metal, most of which is destroyed by weak production.

I would advise against buying this. Unless you are into garage rock, it would be a waste of your money. However, this is still an interesting release, and sampling these songs on iTunes or anything else of that sort would be worth your time.