ABSTRACT SPIRIT "Theomorphic Defectiveness" (2013)

band: Abstract Spirit album: Theomorphic Defectiveness year: 2013 
genres: funeral doom metal origin: Russia

THE FUNERAL IS ABOUT TO BEGIN SIR…

Funeral-attending music has been out there since Mozart’s era… This is the common fashion I’d use for an historical analysis of Abstract Spirit's music. Worthless effort since funeral doom metal seems to have earned an important number of not only listeners but also dudes that perform that kind of gloomy music. In that sense, the genre is not an unknown odd child of the death/doom metal sub-genre. Even though the increasing number of generic listen-and-throw bands in the genre, in the cold oriental Russian lands is forged a solid, well-worked and polished funeral doom metal sound. Perhaps, the most important name in this interesting scene is Abstract Spirit, a three-piece band from Moscow that has been developing bloody high quality sepulchral music since 2006, in what they call as funeral art. This mouth of April the band introduced their forth conception entitled “Theomorphic Defectiveness”.

Although there is already a band named Funeral Orchestra, this title could be readily given to Abstract Spirit as well. After their second album “Tragedy and Weeds” released in the tragic year of 2009, the band started using real orchestra instrumentation to give a more tangible and even gloomier atmosphere to their music. It has been four eccentric years since then and Abstract Spirit had released an album further: “Horror Vacui”. But until a few days ago, I was honestly tired of the outstanding formula that the band had been repeating over their last two albums. When I realized that a brand new album was ahead I was ready for a third version of “Tragedy and Weeds”, I thought that the band was stranded in the same stage inside a loop, condemned to repeat the same formula album by album as many doom metal bands can be found in this moment. Thus, it was important for Abstract Spirit to refresh their music and make some necessary changes.

The title of this forth conception is “Theomorphic Defectiveness”. It has to be noted that, according to an interview that mighty Doommantia made to the band’s frontman A.K. iEzor, the band was working in a new album which was supposed to be entitled “Anhedonia 4.0” by the last year.  However, it turned out that iEzor and the rest of the band didn’t feel comfortable with that work and decided to rearrange, if not redo, everything including the title which mutated into “Theomorphic Defectiveness”. It would be interesting to know how that experiment sounded like, I’m pretty sure I’ll die without knowing the answer to that question…

“Theomorphic Defectiveness” has the same skeleton and mood that their previous works: it is heavy and slow music with powerful riffs, brutal death metal growls, repetitive structure and a nice focus on developing a gloomy and bloody funerary atmosphere by managing a lot of symphonic elements. Sounds good isn’t it? This formula makes you lose any hope you may hold and takes you into the middle of the saddest and darkest funeral. Nevertheless, Abstract Spirit moved from their comfort zone daring to subtly add some changes that made the difference. I can actually enlist these acute elements as follows:

1. Listen to second track “За Сонмом Цветных Сновидений”, the only one sung in Russian. Once again I’ll die without knowing what the hell that means (jokes aside, according to god-like Google Translate, it means “For the hosts of Colored Dreams”), in this track the already gloomy atmosphere goes even colder, insane, twisted and a dead man-driven when the slow heavy riffs become fast and repetitive yet heavy while drums keep on their slow and monotonous way. I don’t really know if this little trick has been used by this or any other doom metal band, but this time it is much more acute and it is repeated in “Leaden Dysthymia”. By adding this to the funerary atmosphere one can feel chills finding one’s self before a grim dead and cold feeling, like were you the one inside the coffin this time.

2. The choirs. Even though they had been used before by the band, this time choirs seem to have claimed special attention. The live performance of choirs is actually far of sounding made by living people. They sound monotonous and lifeless, like if performed by tortured souls. This passages are larger and more than before.

3. Listening to the album as a whole, one realizes that, although the band had worked with live wind and strings performances in the two previous albums, this time these elements create an even more insane atmosphere. It seems like the composition skill has been improved. The horror-movie-like orchestra brings you to a desperate state while cold spirits fill the room. This sensation reminds me the album “Monoliths and Dimensions” developed by Sunn O))), who made some similar efforts. Furthermore, take a listen to the homonymous track in which, for few seconds, one can listen to a passage of what sound like old Russian music. 

4. At last, but not the least, “Theomorphic Defectiveness”, sounds less horizontal and more dynamic than its predecessors. The composition work is amazing, not only in the symphonic elements (as mentioned above) but also in the songs’ structure and in the elements added. For example, “Prism of Muteness” is one of the less slow songs the band has ever made. You can listen to some clean guitars hidden through the album, self iEzor moves through a wider spectrum by varying his vocals in a more dynamic way than before. The composition work just appears to have been loosened.

These are the four reasons why I found this album more interesting than what I expected (at least for myself). “Theomorphic Defectiveness” is clearly an Abstract Spirit album, with its characteristic high quality and elaborated composition and elements blend. There are some bands that claim that since funeral doom metal is such an insane and dark music it has to be minimalistic and raw, some people say that high quality funeral doom is a contradiction to the philosophy of the genre. Personally, I do believe that someone has to do this kind of music mattering about the composition and the high quality of the music. It is clear that this formula developed by Abstract Spirit is effective and achieves its aim of enclosing you into a coffin. Abstract Spirit has just strengthen this in their last album. By now, one of the best doom metal albums of the year, i.m.o.     

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