Abyssopelagic

After a string of albums focusing on Mediterranean soundscapes and a run through several prehistoric time periods, Senmuth changes gears and brings an album inspired by the murky oceanic depths. Abyssopelagic, the title of Senmuth's one hundred and ninety-second release, is named for the deepest reaches of the sea, where the organisms gracing the album's cover reside. Senmuth has always been one for giving interesting genre descriptions of each album he releases, and Abyssopelagic is listed as “progressive stoner metal”.

While the album is a bit more guitar-centric than a lot of his recent work, it still focuses on the mechanized polyrhythmic, djent-flavored riffing that he's been hooked on. The opening track, “Abyssal”, relies heavily on this riffing style, but as the album moves along things open up to allow for a more standard style of riffing. “Neirus” and “Challenger Deep” bring traces of stoner metal, with dusty licks and a strong focus on groove instead of rhyhtmic riffing. Strangely, the percussion seems to utilize a lot of ethnic elements, coming across as tribal at times. Rather than sounding out of place, it's well rooted into the song structure. Abyssopelagic does see Senmuth changing tempos regularly, from the Sabbathian crawling of “Challenger Deep” to the frenetic pacing of “Mariana Trench”.

When spelled out on paper, it would seem that this album is all over the place, but it does manage to bring a cohesive feel. Perhaps the constantly flowing, deep bass lines and seven stringed guitar lines are what strings this together. Regardless, it's good to see Senmuth starting to break away from constant polyrhythmics. Sure, the djent-flavored riffing is still here, but the interlaced stoner licks and touches of liquid ambiance show promise. 2015 is proving to be a hell of a year for Senmuth, as Abyssopelagic is his twenty-second release of the year and we're only halfway through.