#shaftiel

ABSU “Mythological Occult Metal : 1991-2001″ Compilation 2005 (’My jewel is the lust from your kiss ; your breasts made me the lover of the three-fold locus, so take thy hand and join me for elixir, and we shall ride the portentous serpent tonight. Moonfire ! Come to me. Allaxitos ! Cum with thee. Never blow out the Eastern candle ! Forever’) Your five fold tongue has defiled me, I'm stranded by the tree of Storax Thus, we banish your unphallic wand, In order to make our nexus ecstasy

Disc 1 : 1. The Gold Torques of Uláid 2. Never Blow Out the Eastern Candle 3. Stone of Destiny 4. Immortal Sorcery 5. Sumerian Sands (The Silence) 6. Disembodied 7. ...and Shineth unto the Cold Cometh... / Prelusion to Cythrául 8. Akhera Goiti - Akhera Beiti (One Black Opalith for Tomorrow) 9. Reliquiae Celticae 10. The Great Battle Moving from Ideal to Actual 11. Old Tombs at Hochdorf Disc 2 : 1. Silvester Anfang / Deathcrush (Mayhem cover) 2. Swing of the Axe (Possessed cover) 3. Transylvania (Iron Maiden cover) 4. Bestial Invasion (Destruction cover) 5. The Winter Zephyr (...Within Kingdoms of Mist) (live) 6. Highland Tyrant Attack (live) 7. The Thrice Is Greatest to Ninnigal (live) 8. The Coming of War (Morbid Scream cover) (live) 9. Book of Splendour 10. Tasseomancy

Absu

2001

Absu: Tara (2001)

A few months back I made an offhand comment on Facebook about Agalloch probably being America’s first “truly important black metal band,” and was immediately and angrily rebuked by several friends, all of them shouting “What about Absu?!”

They certainly had a point, if not a open-and-shut case, since this ever-in-flux Texan ensemble led by drummer and oftentimes singer Proscriptor McGovern began as a death/black metal hybrid before delivering some quality, though not exactly world-shattering, black metal on ensuing releases.

2001’s Tara, however, changed everything, while solidifying Absu’s self-described brand of “Occult Mythological Metal.” 

Absu’s fourth long-player landed in my New York City mailbox as a slip-case CD promo (*), and my cursory review for the All-Music Guide betrays how hard it was for me to wrap my head around such an intense, intricate, musically and lyrically demanding work -- hence my peculiar focus on ...

“Bagpipes? Yes, bagpipes,” I wrote, make up the title track and coda of Tara, whose virulent black metal is only rarely interrupted by eerie synth breaks or sound effects, backdropping a painstakingly researched concept album based on epic legends of Celtic conquest and warfare -- ergo a song titled “The Cognate House of Courtly Witches Lies West of County Meath.”

At all times, Proscriptor’s maniacal drumming dictates both the ultra-technical, clinical precision and blistering tempos, which achieve downright Ludicrous Speed on the jaw-dropping “She Cries the Quiet Lake” and “From Ancient Times (Scarless Skies Burn to Ash).”

And yet, remarkably, this percussive barrage is typically matched by Shaftiel’s imaginative, lighting-fast fretwork (see the brilliant “Pillars of Mercy” and “Four Crossed Wands (Spell 181)”), but not bassist Equitant, who receives the ...And Justice for All treatment here -- i.e. he’s buried deep down in the mix.

Nevertheless, this is one stupendous LP, and we can bicker all day about the definition and context of “first” and “important,” but Absu certainly qualify for that honor, along with Agalloch, and a few other pioneering American black metal bands I’m forgetting.

* I also happened to be dating a dominatrix named Tara, at the time, but that’s another story ...

p.s.-- Dallas, TX resident King Diamond adds his shrill vocals to some of these tracks, but, for contractual reasons, he was credited under the pseudonym of Masthema Mazziqim. 

DOLMEN “On the eve of War”, Demo / Rehearsal Sessions 1989 (Dark Speed Metal Cult from Texas which later will become almighty ABSU, featuring Equitant Ifernain and Shaftiel)

“Down the old stones go To the charnel chambers far below A haze pervades the night Strikes with fear and dismal fright Lost in a world yet unseen Fear of a dark and forgotten shadow Pain bound to one thousand links Of hot iron steel A pallid fungus lines the darkened crypts A cold chilling wind echoes off the walls Caught in the net of the nocturnal lord Trapped in his domain forever ! Denigration darkness enters and cripples your soul Denigration blemished creature of the night Denigration Vampires rise craving the blood As victims lie helpless in pain Denigration As I heard murmurs from the grave I watched as the horror began Bursting out and capturing my soul I fell down into the fiery pits of hell”

Absu

1997

ABSU "Tara", LP 2001 (Killer Mythological Occult Black/Thrash Metal album with one of the most incredible drummer ever, namely Proscriptor McGovern)

1. Tara 2. Pillars of Mercy 3. A Shield with an Iron Face 4. Manannán 5. The Cognate House of Courtly Witches Lies West of County Meath 6. She Cries the Quiet Lake 7. Yrp Lluyddawc 8. From Ancient Times (Starless Skies Burn to Ash) 9. Four Crossed Wands (Spell 181) 10. Vorago (Spell 182) 11. Bron (Of the Waves) 12. Stone of Destiny (...for Magh Slecht and Ard Righ) 13. Tara (Recapitulation)

ABSU "In the eyes of Ioldánach", MLP 1998 (A great EP of Mythological Occult Celtic Black/Thrash attack from Absu ; "Never blow out the eastern candle !")

1.V.I.T.R.I.O.L. 2.Hallstatt 3.Manannán 4.Never Blow Out the Eastern Candle

Absu

1996