Satanic Taste of Neurotic Virtuosi

I've listened to this tape probably dozens of times by now. It was given to me by the founder and chief songwriter Derrick Goulding as a tape that has lived in my car stereo ever since. Abyssion fuses thrash and death metal with elements of black metal and doom metal, simple as that. They are crushing and menacing. The riffs come off as menacing and technical as you could possibly want from a release like this. Although there is no actual drummer, I think the drum machine actually adds to the atmosphere a bit and makes the release even more militant, if less dynamic.

The 50-minute album “Satanic Taste of Neurotic Virtuosi” is something of a compilation, from what I can tell, meant to be a tape-only release with the first half being a distinct and separate musical effort from the second. However, taken as a whole the album is still cohesive and shows an exemplary effort of Southern crucifix-hating metal. Overall, the thrashier elements are more prominent, albeit broken up by some tasteful doom breakdowns and occasional synth interludes. At this kind of length, the album does feel a little bit drawn out, but every song is strong and offers something new to the listener. The second half is distinctly more black metal-infused than the first. There are also beautiful melodic acoustic interludes on the second half, conjuring an air of medieval revelry.

Beyond all that, this is easily the most satanic, and evil piece of music to come out of the South Eastern US in recent memory. Full of groovy, soulful soloing and eloquent arrangements that are just so utterly listenable and catchy. The drums are programmed perfectly and don't even sound all that unreal, although the samples are somewhat lack luster. Main man Derrick's vocals are mostly delivered in the lower register as punishing growls, bellowing from the deepest chasm in the ninth circle of hell. Also lead guitarist in the prodigious death/doom band Father Befouled, Derricks riffs constantly push the boundaries of dissonance while never adhering to a formulaic approach. Each song on this record could contain a myriad of both thrash, death and doom metal riffs, all of which work together in a perfect synchronicity to deliver the ultimate satanic experience.