Funeral doom is one of metal’s dark arts. Incredibly difficult to write and play well, few artists dare to attempt. Moreover, selling fun-doom to the masses is often a futile effort, as its crawling pace and depressive tonality make for a difficult listen for many who are accustomed to breakneck speeds and blistering fury in their metal. However, if there was any act that could seal the deal, it’s Slow. Déhà’s flagship project reliably provides deep emotional charge, monumental scale, lush drama, and affecting musicality of similar caliber to genre stalwarts Convocation, Eye of Solitude, Clouds, and Un. Slow’s particular application of the style strikes at the heart, and Abîmes I is no exception. More stripped down than the opulent VI – Dantalion yet more musical than V – Oceans, Slow’s first installment in their latest arc focuses on the metallic core of their sound more than ever. Propping Déhà’s bleeding heart lead guitars, tight drumming, and monstrous roars with Lore’s brobdingnagian bass on a well-deserved pedestal, Abîmes I progresses Slow’s funereal doom forward with a subtle, but effective shift.
At a remarkably tight forty-four minutes across four songs, Abîmes I is a testament to the power of editing, even in funeral doom. Song by song, Slow retains their trademarked sense of scale in full force, with its shortest track clocking in at eight-and-a-half minutes (“Abyss”), while its longest pushes a bit past fourteen (“Collapse”). However, Abîmes I’s songwriting is so smooth and well-paced that it moves with the inexorable momentum of a tidal wave. Before I know it, the closing notes of the weeping “Collapse” ring with all of the affecting mournfulness my soul could ask for. Along the way, minimalist but clever bits of detailing penetrate deeply inside my memory—the awesome, and unexpectedly shreddy, solos in both “Barren” and “Abyss”; the incredibly catchy, roaring refrain of “I CLAWED MY WAY OUT” in “Abyss”; Déhà’s especially mammoth vocal performance and lush atmosphere in both “Implode” and “Collapse”—allowing each of these four death marches to stand out with their own respective voices, elevating a cohesive whole. As a result, not only is Abîmes I unreasonably easy to spin on repeat for indeterminate amounts of time, but it is a joy to do so to despite the record’s woeful nature.
Abîmes I offers much to the listener willing to give it the proper time to bloom, but it lacks the counterintuitive immediacy and devastating meteor impact of its predecessor—and its direct competitor this year, Convocation’s No Dawn for the Caliginous Night. Unfortunate as it is, there’s no avoiding the comparison and, in that light, Abîmes I falls a bit short. Simple, minimalist songwriting works well for Slow more often than not, but in this case, the record’s restrained composition gives it a slightly underdeveloped feel. Compounding this issue, a few lead guitar lines in “Implode” and “Collapse” sound oddly similar to material found in Slow’s previous works. Of course, this may simply be a byproduct of Déhà’s frankly intimidating productivity diluting some of his trademark themes. Regardless, Abîmes I could only be improved by massaging those areas which threaten self-plagiarism and including just a few more finishing details on the final product.
As an aside, I applaud Slow’s mixing and mastering of Abîmes I. Proof that you can construct a disastrously heavy sound that’s impressively layered and pleasant to hear without unnecessary compression, this production may very well be one of the best I’ve heard all year. But I digress. The bottom line is that Abîmes I is another rock-solid installment in a long-standing, reliable discography of quality funeral doom. It may not convert any newcomers, and it isn’t the top of its class this year, but it is still damn good and well worth my time.
Rating: Good!
DR: 13 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Aural Music
Websites: slowdooom.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/slowdooom
Releases Worldwide: December 8th, 2023
