On the last day of 2023, the Belgian black metal band Absolutus independently released their latest EP Entfremdung in digital format – their fifth EP over a 20-year long career. A year later, the local label specializing in black metal, Rempart Immortel, reissued it on cassette. While cassette is far from the most popular format nowadays, it has its enthusiasts, and not just because cassette fans are nostalgic or simply collectors; it’s also due to the unique sound quality – warmer and even more alive.
Absolutus has been terrorizing the Belgian city of Liège for over 20 years. While they began with a much rawer and more primitive form of black metal, their subsequent albums have seen an evolution towards more experimental vibes, incorporating noise elements, atmospheric aura, and ambient soundscapes. Over this time, they’ve released three full-length albums (the latest, an ambient album titled Vocem Vacui Audio, came out just a few months ago), five EPs, and one compilation.
Very little is known about this band. Officially, only guitarist and singer Abstrusus is listed as a member for now, with other musicians joining only for live performances. This shroud of mystery adds to their enigmatic presence, raising the question of whether Absolutus is truly a band or a one-man project. The overall atmosphere they create is otherworldly, cosmic, and metaphysical, focusing more on abstract concepts than on anything concrete or corporeal. Their brand of transcendental black metal is more likely to immerse you in dark meditation than provoke an aggressive state where you’d want to grab a battle sword and slay some priests (or at least overturn crosses, if ideology or law prevents more drastic actions).
Of course, anti-Christianity is an integral part of black metal’s history, a foundation for the genre’s unique and gloomy early sound. However, many musicians eventually focus on the musical aspect without mixing it with ideology, often signalling a maturing process. Many start playing at a young age, and as they grow, their interest in Satanism wanes, leading them to explore more philosophical concepts or delve into sociology and psychology. Absolutus is no exception. Their lyrics revolve around themes like nihilism, metaphysical journeys, eerie experiences, and psychology, drawing inspiration from writers such as E.M. Cioran and Friedrich Nietzsche (as noted on their Bandcamp page).
The album opens with a deeply low and noisy sound, enveloped in an ethereal atmosphere. The dissonance and low frequencies merge all instruments into a singular entity. The monotony and atmospheric depth of the title track “Entfremdung” are beyond words, with vocals so muffled they resemble chanting. Everything here is monolithic and ritualistic, emphasizing the occult vibes. The melancholic and almost meditative “À l’Encontre de Soi” further accentuates the low vibrations, with the voice blending into the music, becoming a background element. Listening to this track, you feel the infinite depth of the abyss, mercilessly engulfing you and erasing boundaries. The cold and noisy “Zijn en Verdwijnen” has such a rusty sound that it makes you forget the song’s traditional black metal roots. It’s a blurred noise where the shadows lack clear contours, merging into a chaotic sonic mass. The more progressive “Cosmogonie du Désir”, with its characteristic mystical aura and spiritual energy, also plays with musical patterns, layering them together to create dissonance. The vocals here are so low they resemble demo recordings of early funeral doom metal bands. The closing, psychedelic “Über Gott und Tod” continues to experiment with layering musical textures, while maintaining a monotonous and atmospheric feeling. This composition is challenging to comprehend and stands as a defining example of the avant-garde genre at its finest.
Absolutus employs lyrics in three of Belgium’s official languages – French, German, and Dutch. The French songs are the most esoteric, the German ones – the most dissonant, and the Dutch – the noisiest. However, the songs do not differ significantly in terms of variety, complementing each other perfectly while creating a unified tapestry. Despite its monotony and occult atmosphere, this design is far from cohesive. It’s a kind of chaotic flow that cannot be fully assembled into something concrete, confined within strict boundaries, or labeled. Entfremdung drifts against the current, leaving no clear traces, everything sinking into the infinite space of omnipotent chaos.
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