I have been meaning to cover Ingurgitating Oblivion and
their dark and melancholic music for some time, but the words to describe the
sound never felt right. To truly understand the beauty of the heavy atmospheric
death metal on Ingurgitating Oblivion‘s latest album “Continuum of Absence”,
one needs to give it a spin on his own. All I can say is its dark, heavy and
beautiful. If you are still not convinced, then read on..
The band hailing from the lands of Germany, play some top
notch doomy – technical – old school - death metal, with the multiple tags not
doing true justice to the originality their music possesses. Although the
inspiration from the legends like Gorguts, Morbid Angel and Immolation is
prevalent in the sound, it still creates its own unique footprint. The fact
that the band took a complete decade to release this album, after the last full
length release in 2005, points to how fine-tuned this record is.
The album kicks off with “Eternal Quiescence” which is not
only the longest track, but easily one of the best on the album. The track
builds up from a total void for 90 seconds, before a single distorted guitar
riff begins the proceedings. The discomfort begins from that very instant, with
distorted riffs blasting out, and the drum blasting away in the background, with
the bassists putting in some pitch perfect counter lines.
The dark atmosphere the music creates is perfectly
showcased, in tracks like “Descent to the Temple”. Slow and brooding before
giving a full on death metal assault. The blasting drum beats accompanied by
the dual riff attack, creates some of the rawest and meanest blistering death
metal, you will get to hear on the record. “Avatar of Radiating Absence” takes
the tempo a step down, by bring in some amazing technical drumming into the
picture along with sludgy doomy riffs, at the same time preserving the old
school vibe on the track.
What really works for the album, is the amazing complex song
writing structure actually sounds wonderful, rather than coming off as
unorganized mess. Also, the dual guitar attack of Sascha Hermersdorf and Florian
Engelke brings out some memorable melodies and riffs. But, what really stands
out the most on the record is the amazing bass lines thrown in by Christian
Pfeil throughout the record, and bring a whole new dimension to the overall
sound. The only pitfall this album suffers, is that the atmosphere and feel of
the album gets a tad monotonous on repeated spins. A few tracks start to drag
on and overstay their welcome.
Nevertheless, Continuum of Absence is a creepy, dissonant
journey into the realms of underground death metal, one that will please the
fans of the genre. The jarring music is original and unlike anything you may
have previously heard. Give it a spin, and check it out yourself.
