Summon the Beast

The Abyss's debut album, The Other Side, is hands down one of the best albums of the black metal genre, in spite of not being recorded by "real," "true," or "kvlt" black metal musicians. It had everything that was necessary to black metal (in my humble opinion): blast beats, tremolo picking, raspy vocals, and a sinister and depressing atmosphere.

Now, Summon the Beast does not skimp on the blast beats or tremolo picking, but the depressing atmosphere is sadly lacking, as is the variety that made The Other Side so enjoyable. Each song on the debut album had its own character about it, which can be somewhat rare in black metal. Summon the Beast lacks character, and barring a few passages, namely the "chorus" of "Satan's Majestic Empire" and "Damned," it's blast-blast, screech-screech from start to finish, with little or no variation. This outpouring of aggression is blinding, brutal, and actually quite boring. You can turn on any song on this album and won't know which one it is. When it's over, absolutely none of it will stick in your head. And come to think of it, it really doesn't even sound that evil, just pissed off.

I cannot argue that Summon the Beast is well executed and well produced, because sounds at least as good as the Other Side. But it really feels like there wasn't a whole lot of thought in putting together good songs or even coming up with good riffs. I expected a lot more out of Peter and the boys.